


Need you to see the real me

by haughtflashes



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-09-22 05:46:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9586301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haughtflashes/pseuds/haughtflashes
Summary: A few weeks after Lillian Luthor is arrested, Alex decides to investigate Lena Luthor. Kara scrambles to Lena's defense, but her job isn't easy, especially since Lena refuses to see both her reporter friend and Supergirl.





	1. It's been too long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is some angst.

Kara arrived at the DEO weary from the past few weeks. She couldn't remember the last time she felt fully rested, it must have been before thanksgiving. It was hard with the weight of the world on your shoulders, even if those shoulders were made of steel. She gave Alex a tired smile, it was at least nice to see her sister. Alex always knew how to make her feel better. Her sister approached, with her business face on. Something must be up. 

"I'm going to investigate Lena Luthor." Or not. So much for feeling better. 

"What? Why? She literally saved every alien in National City three weeks ago."

"And since then she's refused to talk to both the girl of steel and her only friend in national city, Kara Danvers. She’s locked herself in her office, working on who knows what."

It was true that Kara hadn't seen Lena since the night with Lillian Luthor. She had tried, but when she flew there as supergirl she found Lena's balcony door locked and covered with a lead lined curtain, blocking her view of the CEO. And when she went as Kara, Jess had informed her she no longer had access and that Lena would not be talking to the press. Kara's calls and texts also went unanswered. But she hadn't mentioned any of this to Alex, out of fear her sister would overreact. Just like the black clad agent was currently doing. 

"Pffft. What are you talking about Alex, I see Lena all the time. Like we're totes besties. We hang."

"You're a terrible liar, Kara. And Winn says you haven't mentioned Lena in weeks."

"Just because I haven't talked about her doesn't mean I haven't seen her." Kara was getting more annoyed by the conversation. It had the unfortunate side effect of knowing her friend wanted nothing to do with her, something Kara was currently trying to ignore. 

Alex just raised an eyebrow, finding Kara's latest defense didn't even warrant a response. 

"Fine," Kara huffed, "Maybe I haven't seen her. But that doesn't mean she suddenly turned evil!"

"Maybe you're right. Or maybe this was all part of her plan. Maybe she did just enough to earn your trust and now she’s planning her strike. I'm not taking that chance"

Kara rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, Cadmus' master plan was to have Lena incarcerate their leader to gain our trust, then ignore me for weeks. Don't you see how ridiculous that sounds?" She ran her hand through her hair. Kara was doing her best not to think about Lena. How much she missed the woman. How close they’d grown over their interviews and lunches. How Lena’s lips looked in cherry red lipstick. How she wouldn’t be able to see those lips again. And how Kara had betrayed her new friend’s trust. Saving the world had meant she'd destroyed her blossoming relationship with the CEO beyond repair. "Plus, she shouldn't be talking to me Alex. This is normal behavior. Kara and Supergirl were her only friends. And they hurt her. I hurt her. She shouldn't want to see me. This is between me and her."

"See! That's exactly what I'm afraid of. I don’t want it between you and her, I’m looking out for you Kara. A Luthor feels betrayed by a Super, she can't trust her only other friend, and now she’s holed up in her office doing god knows what."

"For Rao's sake Alex, stop it!" Kara couldn't take much more of this. "Lena is not Lex. She's not Lillian either. She is so much more than just a Luthor. She's better and she's good. And she shouldn't have to keep proving that over and over again to me, you, the DEO, or anyone else on this stupid planet! You claim she's cold and calculating and then when she shows human emotion it's a sign of suspicion. Just back off!"

"Kara" Alex starts before being cut off. 

"No. Just- No. I can't talk to you anymore right now. Stay the hell away from Lena." and with that the she flew out of the DEO, heading to the place she knew she was wanted least, but where she wanted to be the most. 

\----

Lena didn't need super hearing to hear the thud on her balcony. The girl of steel was persistent. "I know you're out there. That's not an entrance, and even if it was, I wouldn't want you here. I Now please leave." She knew Supergirl would be listening in so she didn't bother raising her voice. 

The CEO was thankful for the lead lined curtain. She'd had it installed as a not so subtle hint to the girl of steel, and to help keep up Lena's own resolve to not let the hero in. But right now she was just glad it stopped her from being seen. She didn't want the woman on the other side of the glass to know what effect she had on her, green eyes welling with tears. 

Lena knew Supergirl had the strength to break through the door if she really wanted to, but was banking on the heros ‘do good’ attitude to prevent her from resorting to such measures. And if Lena was being honest, National City's hero wasn't the only reason for her current state. Kara Danvers did a number on her. The bubbly reporter never actually wanted to be her friend. The more Lena thought about it the more it made sense. 

Their friendship had always been one sided. Lena invited Kara to galas, visited her at Catco to hand deliver the invite, dropped by the girl's apartment. Kara came to Lena's office whenever she needed a scoop or a favor. And even though Lena had been happy to oblige, that wasn't enough for Kara to trust her, something that was abundantly clear when the reporter came to her with an incessant lie about a fluff piece on female CEOs and their mothers. There weren't even enough women CEOs in the city to make that piece worthwhile. 

Lena sighed, glad her anger was starting to take over from the sadness. She wasn't sure if Supergirl was still lurking on her balcony but she really didn't want to take the risk of the woman hearing her cry. She walked over to the bar and poured herself two fingers of whiskey, drinking it neat. She heard voices outside of her office, choosing to walk over to the her door to listen and make sure it was locked. 

"Miss Danvers, as I've told you many times before, your access to Ms Luthor has been revoked. You are not welcome at L Corp."

"Please Jess, just five minutes. I really need to talk to her."

"I prefer Ms. Huang. And if Ms. Luthor wanted to speak to a member of the press, I'm sure it wouldn't be a junior reporter from CatCo fashion magazine." Lena needed to give the woman a raise. Or a promotion. Is this how Cat Grant had felt about Kara when she had been an assistant?

"Sorry. Um, Ms. Huang, then" Kara didn't rise to the bait "I'm not here as a reporter. I just really need to talk to her."

"From what I’ve heard, I'm not sure if you are capable of separating the two. And that doesn't change the fact that your not permitted to enter. Now please leave before I call security."

Lena turned back to the bar, filling her now empty glass. She went with three fingers this time, cursing herself for being so affected by the young reporter. She needed to get out of this office. It was so suffocating, reminding her of how alone she was. Lionel, Lex, Lillian, Supergirl, and now Kara. She didn't delude herself into thinking any of them ever truly cared for her, but she had felt it at times. And now they were all gone. 

She touched up her makeup while finishing her whiskey. No time for self pity. Her mother had taught her it was an unbecoming emotion, and beneath a Luthor. While her mother wasn’t necessarily motherly, her advice often seemed to work. She wouldn’t bask in these pointless emotions. Lena needed a distraction.


	2. Need to see your face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara resorts to desperate measures to see Lena. Maggie tries to help, but isn't ready for what she's gotten herself into.

Kara knew she couldn't justify this. It was beyond creepy. But she needed to see Lena, so she came up with a plan. 

So that's why she was currently hidden in the alley next to L Corp, using her super vision to watch for when Lena Luthor left for the day. Based on the amount of whiskey she'd seen the CEO consume during her conversation with Jess, she didn't think it'd be too long. She was glad that Lena hadn’t lined the entire office with lead, just the balcony. At least she could still seem some things.

Her suspicions were confirmed as she saw Lena exit the building and jump into an awaiting car. Whelp, it was all or nothing now. Kara had already decided, changing into her suit and taking off, while dialing Alex. 

"Alex. I need the night off. Can you and J'onn handle things?

"Yeah Kara that's fine are you ok?"

"Just tired. It's been a long few weeks. I just need a night to myself." It wasn't entirely a lie. 

"Ok. Listen, about earlier-"

"I don't want to talk about that. Later." She didn't like hanging up on her sister, but needed to stay focused. 

She tailed Lena's car, keeping a respectable distance, doing some laps around other buildings to avoid suspicion. Not that anyone tended to look hundreds of feet up in the sky when looking for a tail, but Kara wanted to be cautious. It wouldn’t help Lena’s reputation is Supergirl was seen stalking her. Finally the car reached its destination. 

She'd need to change before entering the establishment. Kara zipped home and returned shortly, this time in a sleek black dress with more makeup. Her hair was up in a bun and her glasses were on to ensure she was still in Kara Danvers mode. 

Kara entered the club. It was upscale, not surprising with Lena's taste, but she did find it odd that the clientele was exclusively women. Maybe it was some sort of girls night - the only guys there were the bouncer and one of the bartenders. Then it clicked. She'd need backup for this mission. She only knew one person that could help.

\----

Maggie had just gotten home from work, disappointed to see a text from Alex that she had to work tonight. Alex had told her she’d be off, but Maggie knew that the life of a federal agent in a secret organization sometimes entailed getting called in. She didn't have too much time to settle into her night alone before receiving a call from an unknown number. 

"Maggie. It's Kara. Kara Danvers. Alex's sister. Um, as in Alex Danvers. In case that wasn’t clear. Listen I know this is weird but I need your help"

Maggie was beyond confused but wasn't going to miss the chance to get on the good side of the most important person in Alex's life. 

"Ha, um yeah, I know who you are Kara. Sure, I’m happy to help. What do you need me to do?"

And that's how Maggie found herself outside of National City's posh lesbian bar dressed up like she was going undercover at Roulette's club again. Maggie had never even been here before, preferring the comfort of dive bars, though she’d heard it was the go-to place for the sapphic elite. She had no idea what the younger Danvers was up to but decided that she'd go with it. 

"Thanks for coming. I'm a little out of my element."

"Um, sure no problem. But can I ask what we're doing here?"

"Oh right. Yeah you would probably want to know that. Well the thing is. It's complicated. And I'll tell you but you need to promise not to tell Alex."

Maggie hesitated. She didn't want to lie to her new girlfriend but Kara also looked very concerned about whatever this situation was. Before she could answer Kara continued. 

"I mean I know it's a lot to ask you. But I will tell her eventually I just need some time. And I want it to come from me but the thing is that I'm not even sure what it is. And you don't need to lie or anything like if she asks you can say you hung out with me but just let me fill in the details to her. Once I know what the details are. I just-"

"Ok" Maggie needed to put the girl out of her misery. "I'll do it. What's the mission?" They grabbed some drinks and headed to the table, Kara filling her in on the plan. Maggie knew the drinks wouldn't act affect Kara, so she had a flask of something that would, in case Kara needed some liquid courage. 

"So let me get this straight. Your friend is mad at you and won't talk to you, in either of your personas, so your response is to stalk her?"

Kara cringed. "Oh jeez, you’re right. Does that make her double mad? On second thought I will take some of that flask. It sounds worse when you say it."

Maggie poured a shot into karas drink and continued. "So then you tailed her to a lesbian bar and your plan is to what, watch her flirt with girls at the bar all night?"

"I didn't really think it through after the following her part..." that earned a laugh from Maggie, which was quickly silenced at Kara's glare. "I just need to see her. And I thought if I casually ran into her somewhere she'd maybe talk to me. And then we were here and I didn't know what to do."

"So you called one of the few lesbians you know?" Maggie thought it was surreal. Two baby gay Danvers in just as many months. What are the odds? Did she have some sort of homing beacon that emitted a high frequency signal drawing questioning ladies near? Like Alex though, it seemed Kara was completely oblivious to her feelings. 

"Yeah" Kara replied sheepishly "sorry is that rude. I didn't mean to assume. I just - I don't really know what I'm doing"

"It's fine little Danvers. I was just joking. So what do you want to do?"

Kara scanned the bar eyes landing on Lena at first growing big at the sight of the CEO, then narrowing at the woman she was with. The mystery woman was laughing at something Lena said, resting her hand on her thigh. 

"Woah baby Danvers. Take a deep breath before you snap the table with your super strength."

"I'll be right back" Kara downed her drink, then took a shot immediately from the flask and headed to the bathroom. At least she wasn't going over to confront the Luthor. Maggie sighed, getting another round from the bar and returning to the table, pouring a shot from the flask into Kara's drink. 

It looked like drinking and pining from afar was on the docket tonight. Hopefully Kara was the same happy drunk Alex had told Maggie about. Though she couldn’t really imagine the brighter Danvers getting sad, even when Kara was upset with Maggie, she could barely make a stank eye. Either way, Maggie braced herself for a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming along on the ride. It's kind of a angst/desperation fest so far.


	3. I wanted you to see me, but not like this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena confronts Maggie, then Kara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for drunk Kara. And maybe some more angst.

Lena sat at the L Club, successful in finding her distraction for the night. After settling into the bar, she soon found herself joined by a red headed woman. At least she wasn’t a blond, she was trying to forget the blonds in her life currently. 

Lena laughed at something the woman said though it wasn't particularly funny. The woman's hand on her thigh was more human contact than she'd had in weeks but it still wasn’t satisfying. It didn't feel right. 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a familiar figure. Kara Danvers rushing to the bathroom looking upset. She briefly wondered what that was about, before reminding herself that she shouldn’t care. 

She considered following but decided against it, looking up to see where Kara had come from. Her eyes landed on a booth. She watched as the other occupant, a detective she had seen get shot in L Corps lobby several weeks ago, got up and returned to the table with drinks. The woman then poured something into Kara's drink and Lena's brow furrowed. Was this woman roofying Kara? She was mad at the reporter, but even two timing backstabbing rays of sunshine didn't deserve to get date raped. 

"I'm sorry," Lena turned back to her companion. "I'm afraid I must excuse myself for the evening. I see some business associates and work never rests. It's been lovely meeting you." Lena was glad she was well versed in excuses from her years of Luthor social engagements. The woman looked disappointed but not too put off. It would do. She made her way over to the booth sliding into the seat Kara had occupied. 

"I saw that. What did you put in there?"

If the other woman was shocked at her arrival, she didn't show it. She cracked a grin extending her hand. "Lena Luthor. It's a pleasure, I'm Maggie Sawyer. Detective Maggie Sawyer. I don’t think we’ve formally met, but I’ve been to your offices." 

Lena didn't take the hand. "I know who you are. I tend to not forget people who get shot in my building by rogue cyborgs sent by my murderous mother. Now tell me what you put in Kara's drink."

Maggie wasn't sure how to get out of this one. "Listen I know what it looks like but that's now what is happening.”

“So why don’t you enlighten me to what is happening.”

“I'm not on a date with Kara and I'm certainly not trying to slip something in her drink without her knowledge. I'm dating Kara's sister Alex." 

“I don’t care who you’re dating. I saw what you did. And I may not be friends with Kara, but I’d be over here no matter who you were with. So I’ll give you one more chance to explain what’s going on before I have you ejected from my club and call the police. And before you tell me you are the police, remember that I literally had my own mother arrested, so obviously I do not care who you are.”

"That’s Kara’s flask, I didn’t put anything in her drink that she doesn’t know about. Kara’s really, um, particular about her alcohol, and can’t always drink what’s at most bars. So she brings her own stuff. Look, Kara really wanted to come here tonight and didn't want to come alone. Her sister, Agent Danvers, is working, so I was next in line for the call."

Lena was confused to say the least, but had somewhat forgotten about the mystery flask. "Kara wanted to come here. Why?"

"You'll have to ask Kara that."

\----

Kara knew she'd been in the bathroom too long but needed to cool down. It’d probably been 15 minutes, but Kara was still worked up.

She was muttering to herself pacing. "Stupid Lena with that stupid woman. Stupid me for caring. Stupid me for ruining everything. Why am I so stupid?!" She paused, looking in the mirror only now realizing the tears streaming down her face. 

She really didn't have much of an alcohol tolerance, but this is the first time she had been anything other than an adorable bubbly puppy whilst intoxicated. The alien alcohol had affected her so much she didn't even notice the door open. 

"Why do I care?" She asked her reflection. "And why do I mess everything up when all I ever want to do is help? Ugh they should just call me stupidgirl instead." She went to punch her reflection when a hand reached out to stop her. It didn't have the strength to pull her back but the surprise made Kara stop her motion. Kara turned around not expecting to be face to face with Lena Luthor. 

"Kara."

"Lena. Oh my god. Wait am i imagining this? This is only my second time drunk but I'm pretty sure hallucinating isn't part of it. Wait how long have you been here? What did you see? Oh my god do you see my face like this? Don't look at my face. But wait why are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you but I know you don’t want to see me. And Rao, I don’t want you to see me looking like this."

Lena had to push down her amusement at the classic Kara word vomit. She was still mad at the reporter, and was unable to forgive her simply for being an adorable drunk. But clearly the reporter was in no state to discuss anything of substance. Lena didn't know Kara's exact age, but she knew the girl was old enough that it seemed odd this would only be her second time drinking. 

"To answer your questions. You are not imaging this. Hallucination is generally not a side effect of alcohol, though I'm still unclear what your sister's girlfriend was spiking your drink with, so I suppose it could be a side effect of that. Regardless, I am indeed here and have been for the last few minutes. And yes, I can see your face."

Kara stared at her for a minute, clearly the alcohol was affecting her. "I wasn't crying. I um just washed my face. And forgot I was wearing makeup. That's why I look like this. Also I was doing a raccoon impression. No other reason. I definitely was not crying." Kara hurried to fix her face in the mirror. She really was a bad liar. 

"Ok." Lena decided to let it go. Clearly the girl didn't have proper Luthor training to hide evidence of tears and smoothly cover up these things. She grew a little envious at the thought. "Let's go get a drink and you can explain to me what you're doing here."

They exited the restroom approaching Kara and Maggie's booth. Maggie simply nodded at Kara as the two of them approached, making her exit. "Call me if you need anything baby Danvers." Lena took what was Maggie's seat, realizing the place previously occupied by Maggie's beer had been replaced by Lena's go-to of a whiskey neat. Apparently the woman really could detect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, we'll see more of drunk Kara. Imma try to slow burn this, but we'll see how patient I can be. Clearly these two have a lot to talk about.


	4. Where am I?

Kara groaned as she awoke in an unknown location. Kara knew she shouldn't had that last drink, but it was worth it to see Lena. She thought back to the night before. Once she and Lena had sat down at the booth their conversation was pretty much nonsense. Kara tried to recall what happened. She knew it would be embarrassing, a part of her didn’t want to know what exactly happened, but she needed to figure out how much damage she’d done. And where she was. 

_"So, what brings you out tonight? I can't believe it's only your second time drinking." Kara stared back with a dopey grin. She loved the way Lena bit her lip as she asked the question. Judging by the way Lena covered it up, it was unintentional. But it had to mean something, right? She missed Lena. And her face. Lena had a nice face. She remembered Lena asked her a question. She needed to say something smart or funny so Lena would want to be her friend again._

_"Well last time I only had one drink. This time I had three so it's actually my second, third, and fourth time!"_

_"Ok. I take that back. I can certainly believe you are new to drinking. Maybe you should slow down on that one. Or I can drink it for you. I'm well practiced" Lena downed her scotch and reached for Kara's drink._

_"No!" Kara knew the drink was poisonous to humans so she quickly downed it. "I'm fine. I really wanted it. Plus you wouldn’t like it. I, um have food allergies, so it’s different."_

_Kara's memory got a little blurry after that. She remembered Lena offering her a ride home. "Well it's not like I can fly" Kara had giggled. Then it's blank._

She looked around not recognizing the decor. It was modern yet minimalistic, with shades of white and grey, complimented with black. She realized she wasn't alone in the bed and started to panic, realizing her arm was draped across someone. A someone who wasn't wearing a shirt. She jumped up with a gasp, waking the bed’s other occupant. 

Lena Luthor started up at Kara who was now standing. She let out a gasp that would likely have been inaudible to someone without super hearing and quickly averted her eyes. Kara didn't think she'd ever seen Lena Luthor blush before, but then looked down and realized why. Kara was completely naked. 

"Oh my god!" Kara panicked looking around for her clothes. 

"Kara. Oh dear, I know what it looks like but I swear nothing happened. Please help yourself to any of my clothes and we can talk. First about last night. And then maybe about... other things"

Kara saw her dress from last night but instead grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a tank top from Lena’s dresser. Both smelled like Lena, but this wasn’t the time to think about that. She turned to see Lena had gotten up. Lena’s back was facing Kara as she turned to throw on a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt. Kara knew she shouldn't be staring at Lena as she dressed but couldn't turn away. Lena still didn’t turn to face Kara after dressing, and Kara finally realized it was because she was waiting.

"Um okay. You can turn around now." Lena turned to face her, both were still blushing. 

"Ok I'll make coffee and we can talk." Lena met Kara’s eyes for a moment, but her head was pounding too much for her to attempt to process what it meant. She still had no idea what exactly happened the night before. 

"So how are you feeling?" Lena wasn't sure if the girl had experienced a hangover before. 

"Um I'm ok"

"So... how much of last night do you remember?"

"It gets fuzzy after we left the bar."

“Ok. How about fill in the blanks?" Kara nodded. She was not sure why Lena was being nice to her, or even talking to her for that matter, but she wasn’t going to question it. It’s not like she had the mental capability to question much of anything. Her thoughts paused as Lena continued. 

"We got into my car and you kept saying that you couldn't go home because you knew Alex was at your apartment and that she couldn't see you like this. I'm not sure how you knew, but once we got close, you kept saying you saw her her, and you were adamant. So I offered to let you crash on my couch. Anyway we got here I set up the couch and put you to bed there.”

“Well, thanks. I um, must have gotten a text from Alex or something to know that she was there. She does that sometimes. But wait, if I was on the couch, how...”

“I swear, I left you fully clothed tucked in on the couch. But at some point during the night you crawled in my bed and asked to cuddle." Lena let out a slight grimace. She wasn't the cuddling type, but of course Kara Danvers, even while Lena was upset with her, could somehow decimate her defensive walls. "For some reason, I couldn't say no and had forgotten that i had gone to sleep in just a sports bra and underwear. And before you ask I have no idea how or when you decided to strip. So here we are."

Kara's jaw dropped. She wanted nothing more than to use her super speed and exit or fly out the window. If Lena didn't want to talk to her before, surely she'd never talk to her again. But she also hadn't seen Lena in weeks and couldn't pass up any chance to talk to her no matter how humiliating the circumstances. 

"Lena I am so sorry. I probably mentioned it last night but I don't really ever drink and I know that's not an excuse but I want to explain why I was such a mess. It's just it's been a stressful few weeks and I decided to let off some steam and now I realize what a terrible idea that was I've pretty much only had terribly stupid ideas lately and-"

"Kara. It's fine. I'm not mad at you" Kara's hopes rose, this seemed too good to be true. "... about last night" With that kara deflated. Right Lena was mad at her and had every right to be. She was just too good to leave an intoxicated woman alone on the streets. Even if she hated said woman. “You definitely were not in any shape to be left alone, and I would not let that happen to any woman.” 

"Right. Well thank you and sorry for last night. I know you want nothing to do with me, but I really appreciate you not leaving me alone there. Next time feel free to grab my phone to call my sister or Maggie so I don't burden you. Not that there will be a next time." She couldn't look at Lena for the next part. "I want to apologize for other stuff too, but I know you don't want to see me and I'll respect that. I'm going to find my dress and change and go. Don't worry I won't come by your office anymore. And I'll have Alex tell supergirl to back off. They um work together so she might listen to her."

She used her x ray vision to locate her dress at the foot of Lena's bed and went to retrieve it, surprised when an arm reached out to hold her back. 

"Kara. Wait. Stay, and let's talk. About the other stuff. Maybe I was too sharp to ignore you without an explanation. Not that I will apologize. But now that you’re already here, how about I give you a chance to talk."


	5. Glasses off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex continues to freak out. Kara makes a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you guys haven't guessed, this is un beta'd. So bear with me. Also I got carried away so this is a bit Sanvers heavy.

"Have you seen Kara? She didn't come home last night and she's not answering her phone. And her suit is still at her apartment."

Maggie was not ready for this as her girlfriend stormed into her apartment first thing in the morning. Usually seeing Alex worked up was hot, but right now she was just really wishing she’d already had her coffee. She started to speak but the elder Danvers kept going. 

"We sort of got in an argument yesterday and she left. Then she called me later and just asked for the night off which she never does. So I went to her apartment after to talk but she wasn't there and-"

"Alex, breathe. Kara's probably fine. She was with me last night, and she was ok."

"What? Probably? Why didn't you mention that?! And why?"

"Well I couldn't get a word in until now. Seriously sometimes you Danvers sisters can talk as much as the Gilmore girls. And Kara said she had a stressful few weeks and she wanted to go out and blow off some steam."

"And what you left without her? What if something happened? And probably ok? That’s not good enough."

"Alex. Calm down. She’s fine, she’s probably just crashing with a friend after a late night out.”

“Do you think I haven’t thought of that. I already tried Winn and James and neither of them have seen her. Should I try Lucy? Or Cat Grant? I don’t think either of them are in town, but maybe”

“Danvers, chill. I know you worry, but you need to give her some space. If she doesn't check in by tonight we'll go find her. You said it yourself, she’s not doing Supergirl stuff right now, so it’s not like she’s in danger."

\----

Kara and Lena sat in silence sipping their coffee, playing an infuriating game of chicken to see who would talk first. 

"I'm sorry Lena. I know you have every right to be mad at me. I just want to know that I didn't lie to you because I don't trust you." 

She knew she was talking to Lena as Kara Danvers, but she was apologizing for more than the article. It killed her that she couldn't share who she truly was with the woman who made her feel...Well made her feel something. Something she hasn't felt before but didn't know what to call it. She shoved those thoughts down, she needed to try to fix her friendship before thinking about anything else.

"Then why did you lie, Kara? I thought I made it clear you can ask me anything" 

"I. It's just. It's complicated." After a glance at Lena she knew that was the wrong thing to say. She couldn't lose her again. Not when the woman sat so close was both relief and a reminder of how hard the last few weeks and how hard they’d been. 

“Right, I get it.” Kara already knew she messed up. She needed some way to explain to Lena. To make her understand that so much of Kara’s actions weren’t based on what Kara wanted to do, but what others needed her to do.

“No, it’s not that. It’s not because you’re a Luthor. I trust you Lena, I really do.”

“But it’s complicated?” Lena did her signature eyebrow quirk and for a second Kara forgot to breathe. She missed that look over the past few weeks. And she didn’t want this to be the last time she was on the receiving end of it. At that realization, Kara resolved herself, cementing her decision. 

"It's complicated, but I'm going to explain it, all of it, to you right now. Because I trust you."

Lena's face remained stoic but Kara could hear her heartbeat pick up slightly. 

Kara took off her glasses and let down her hair. She was just going to treat this like ripping off a bandaid. Not that she'd ever needed a band aid. 

"I'm Supergirl." 

\----

Alex paced back and forth, not sitting once after busting through Maggie’s door. She suspected her girlfriend knew more than she was letting on. How could Maggie be so calm? She had to have known Alex was freaking out here. She had said it herself, Kara was the only thing that’d get Alex this freaked out. 

“Danvers, I can hear you over-thinking across the room.”

“I’m going to the DEO”

“Why?”

“To go over think somewhere else.”

Maggie grabbed her jacket, following her out the door. “Alex, I know you care a lot about Kara, but at a certain point you need to trust she’s ok. She’s not off fighting some alien or unstoppable force. She’s probably nursing the second hangover of her life and doesn’t want to deal with whatever fight you guys had right now.”

Alex didn’t respond, simply hopping on her bike. Maybe Maggie was right, but it was still odd that she was so adamant about it. And why was Kara hanging out with Maggie last night anyway. She had told Alex she wanted to be alone. And why would Kara drink again, she said she never wanted to after that night with Mon-El. It wasn’t adding up. 

Alex jumped off her bike breezing into the DEO, not surprised to see Maggie at her side. “Winn.” Winn looked surprised, not a shocker since he wasn’t suspecting Alex today. She approached his desk, lowering her voice. “I need you to track Kara’s phone.”

“Is she ok? Is this why you called me this morning?”

“Danvers that is such an invasion of privacy.”

Alex ignored Maggie, turning back to Winn. “I don’t know. I just don’t know where she is, can you track the phone?” Winn nodded and began doing his computer thing. 

“Stop helicoptering and give your sis a chance to play hooky for once in her life.”

Alex was about to question Maggie further when Winn looked up. “Her phone is off. I can’t track it.”

“Alex, I know this is going to freak you out more, but stop that over-protective mama bear brain of yours for just a second.” This was the last straw, Maggie was pushing back too hard. She was definitely hiding something. She dragged her girlfriend away, entering the green room.

“Ok, spill.”

Maggie simply stared back at her with a puppy dog pout. 

“I’m not playing Sawyer, what are you hiding?”

Maggie ran her hand through her hair, clearly mulling what to say. Alex remained silent, her curiosity peaking. “Fine, Alex. I know where Kara is. She wanted a friendly ear to vent to after yesterday, so she called me. She figured you’d show up at her place, and she wanted some space.” It was odd that Kara called Maggie, the two weren’t super close. But Kara probably knew Winn was way less likely to keep his resolve under Alex’ threats and she was pretty sure Kara was still mad at James.  
“So where is she?”

“Alex, maybe you need to respect the fact your sister needs some time to herself. I know it’s been a rough couple of weeks, probably for both of you, but you really need to trust that she’s ok. Can you trust me on that?”

Alex sighed, she knew Maggie was probably right. She was overcompensating after feeling like she let Kara down by being too distracted by her own life. Now she was skewing in the opposite direction, in danger of pushing Kara away by being too invasive. 

“I guess you're right. There’s a chance I may be over-reacting.”

“A chance?”

“Don’t push it. But yeah, you’re right. I’ll back off, thanks for talking me off the ledge there.”

Maggie smiled, “That’s my job Danvers, for better or for worse. Now c’mon, let’s go get some brunch. I know you’re a workaholic, but there’s no need to spend your day off at the DEO.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So not a ton of Supercorp here, but get ready. The next chapter is just 1000% Supercorp angstfest because why not.


	6. See me through the tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena finally talk.

“I’m Supergirl.” Lena remained unchanged. She may have mixed feelings about her Luthor upbringing, but right now she was thankful that she could keep her emotions in check. Her face could have been a porcelain mask with its lack of reaction. She was glad she could feel her heartbeat remain steady, wanting to stay unreadable to Kara’s heightened senses. "You knew? Ugh, of course you knew. Okay let's put a pin in that. That's not the thing I needed to tell you but you had to know for this to make sense.

"So my sister, Alex.” Lena of recalled the woman who’d saved her life. And that awkward moment where she briefly thought the agent was something other than Kara’s sister when she dropped by the reporter’s apartment. “She's not in the FBI. She's in this fancy secret alien fighting CIA type thing. The DEO. They wanted to investigate you about Cadmus. To hack L Corp to see how much you knew." 

Lena shouldn’t be surprised. Of course they wanted to investigate her. No matter what she did, she’d always be a suspect do to her family ties. She tried her best to hide anger and hurt from her face and stay stoic. She said she’d let Kara explain, so she didn’t interrupt. "I didn't want them too. I told them I looked into your eyes and knew I could trust you. I told them that you didn't know anything that you were good and it'd be an invasion of privacy. But they wouldn't relent so I told them I'd go talk to you myself and that I'd be sneaky. Obviously I wasn't and I hurt you in the process and betrayed your trust and I'm sorry for that."

Lena wasn’t sure what to say. It was a lot to react to. She couldn’t let herself get her hopes up about Kara looking into her eyes, or allow herself to be amused at the thought of Kara Danvers claiming to be sneaky. They had too much to work through right now. 

She decided to follow Kara’s suit and go with the truth. "I didn't actually know you were Supergirl. I suspected it, but I wasn't sure. So I still treated you like two different people. All of the signs were there, I know. I saw them, but I chose to ignore them. I didn’t want to see the truth.” Kara looked disappointed, and Lena wanted to correct her mistake. This wasn’t coming from a place of alien prejudice, it was about Lena’s own insecurities. “Before you jump to conclusions, it’s not like that. I don’t have a problem with you being an alien.”

“Then why didn’t you want it to be true?” 

“I wanted to pretend my only friend in this city wasn't just keeping tabs on me.” Lena was already starting to regret this truthfully sharing decision. She tried keeping these feelings pushed down, doing her best to not to feel them herself. Sharing them with Kara was even worse. “When you came for that bogus interview I knew it was true. That you were just trying to keep tabs. It didn't actually matter if you were Supergirl or not. Either way Kara Danvers had an agenda." 

Lena knew she was a bit of a masochist, but this was a new level. She wasn’t sure why she was disclosing this to Kara, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She always felt a certain pull to the reporter, from when she first stepped into Lena’s office with Clark Kent. Even in their early interviews, she’d opened up way more to her than any member of the press. Hell, she’d talked more honestly with Kara than anyone since Lex went to prison, and now she was doubting whether that was real. 

"Lena that's not true." Kara reached out to grab Lena’s hand, but she pulled back. The physical contact would likely break her, and she was already feeling too heavy. She wanted to believe Kara, but it was still too soon to let down her guard. "I really like you it's not just to keep tabs, it was never about that. I mean I took advantage of our friendship and that was so wrong. But I really do care about you."

That was not what Lena wanted to hear. She thought if she simply cut ties off with Kara then she could move on with her life without getting hurt. But she could feel herself being pulled in and didn’t want to make herself feel this vulnerable. "Please don't say that. I really can't do with anymore false hope. Everyone who I think cares for me ends up shattering that illusion."

"Lena.” Kara looked at her with a piercing gaze. It made Lena uncomfortable, it felt like she was seeing beyond her mask, her armor. “I do care for you it's real. Everything I said to you that day as Supergirl I meant. You're too good, too smart, and too caring to not be loved. You're a hero and saved the city."

"You don't think I know that Kara!” Lena embraced the anger she felt bubble to the surface. It was safer than feeling hurt, or worse vulnerable and scared. “I am well aware that I saved the aliens and incarcerated my mother. Do you think I was unaware of my actions when I switched out the isotope? When I kept up the ruse that I was finally the daughter that Lillian always dreamed of? I am certainly aware of my actions. And I know the way this city works well enough to know it’d be a thankless job, especially given my name.”

“I know I never thanked you, but I really am thankful. You saved me, and my friends, and something came up and I had to leave for a little while-” Lena interrupted. Kara was missing the point. 

“That’s not why I’m mad. I don't think you understand what you did to me. That day when I pulled that lever, I saw the betrayal in your eyes. You really believed I was capable of something like that." Lena had been losing her composure fighting back tears. Her voice cracked slightly but she carried on, more softly. "And the worst part is, when I saw that hurt in your eyes, for a second, I was happy. Happy to cause you the same pain you caused me. Happy that you thought I was a monster, that I really could be the monster you suspected I was during that interview. And happy that you'd be proven wrong." 

She let out a sob against her wishes. Her thoughts about that day had been swirling around in the back of her head for weeks, but she never allowed them to fully form. She had holed up in her office channeling her anger at Kara and Supergirl, and in her isolation, she’d been free to ignore these thoughts. "But you see there's the problem. I cared about you,” Lena didn’t miss Kara’s slight flinch at the past tense “and then I took joy in your pain. I'm not any better than they are. I was right that day. I really am a Luthor." It hurt to say the words out loud, but she knew she couldn’t deny it. No matter how much good she attempted to do, her upbringing would always find a way to emerge. 

She felt arms around her, but it took her a moment to register Kara had pulled her into a tight hug. "Don't say that. You were hurt and that pain is real. You need to feel things and not bottle them up and that's ok." Kara pulled back, forcing Lena to look at her eyes. Lena felt a stab of guilt at the tears she saw welling, knowing that she was the source. “Trust me. Once I was poisoned with something that made me, well, act bad. I don’t really want to get into it, but the point is, all of the anger that was driving me, it was real stuff that I had ignored for such a long time. And then it finally exploded out, and it was terrible. You deserve to feel how you feel.” Kara pulled her in again. “Just because you’re good doesn’t mean you can’t feel bad sometimes.”

It was odd, allowing herself to be held, to be comforted by another human. It was nice, even. She had missed Kara, which was probably part of the reason she didn’t want to see her. But now that she was back, Lena didn’t want to let go. They stayed like that for some time before pulling back. Kara was the first to break the silence.

"Do you think we’ll ever be ok? I mean it doesn't have to be today, I know we still have more to talk about. And you don't even have to say anything I just want to know if there's a chance. I really miss you."

Lena couldn’t kid herself. She’d already let her walls down, no reason not to go all in. "I missed you too. And I guess it wouldn’t be any fun if I had no friends in National City." 

Lena looked at her watch. It was 3pm. That was way too much time on the day to be spent on emotions and feelings, but she supposed she didn't regret it. What did the Greek playwrights call it, catharsis? That seemed to be a fitting word. At least it was Saturday. "Kara, I know we probably have more to talk about, but I honestly don't think I have it in me today. And after last night, I’m sure you’re not feeling 100% either."

"Oh. Okay. No problem. I'll just get going." Lena didn’t want to talk more, at least about heavy stuff, but she wasn’t sure she wanted Kara to leave either.

"No. I mean, I wasn't kicking you out. Unless you want to leave, in which case I don’t want to keep you.” God, she was rambling now, was this the kind of effect Kara had on her? “What I meant to say is, it’s been a long day and I’m somewhat new to the whole talking about your emotions thing. And I was wondering if my only friend in National City would like to join me for an evening out on the town?" Kara nodded, beaming. "Great, I'm going to teach you how to handle your alcohol. Or whatever it is that makes kryptonians drunk.”

"Hey! The last drink was kind of your fault.” Lena raised an eyebrow, waiting for Kara to elaborate. “If you hadn't tried to take it, then I wouldn't have chugged it so fast. I was saving your life you know - that stuff would have literally killed you."

Lena rolled her eyes. "My hero. I think that's the first time someone's life has been saved via shots. I’m sure frat boys everywhere will have a new dream to aspire to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone go give Lena Luthor a hug. Apparently I have two tones, angst and fluff. At least I am probs all out of angst, so get ready for a break.


	7. Across the table

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara finally talks to Alex, before heading to dinner with her favorite CEO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blame any mistakes on my beta, gdocs spellcheck

All in all, Kara’s plan worked out pretty well. Sure, maybe stalking Lena was a bit extreme, and she certainly wasn’t proud of how she’d acted at the L Club, but she did get to talk to Lena. And they were friends again. Kara smiled at the thought. She knew they still had a lot more to talk about, the fact that Lena’s mother imprisoned Kara was sure to come up at some point, but for now, she was just going to enjoy it. 

Now that Lena was talking to her again, they’d be able to work everything out. Kara was simply looking forward to having a fun night out after a handful of stressful weeks. 

Lena was in the other room, picking them out something to wear, so Kara glanced down at her phone, plugging it in as it had died at some point the night before. She had quite a few missed calls and texts from Alex as well one from Maggie. She knew Alex would be freaking out that Kara didn’t come home and her phone was off, but hopefully Maggie had it handled. She decided to check what the detective had to say. _Baby Danvers I covered for you but please talk to your sister. She's driving me crazy with her worrying._ Kara sighed and called Alex. 

"Kara! Are you ok? What happened? Where were you?"

"Alex. I'm fine. Really." She tried to decide what to tell her sister. "I wanted to have a night out so I called Maggie. We hung out and had a few drinks.” Hopefully her story lined up enough with the detectives to avoid suspicion. “Then I saw you were inside my apt and really didn't want to follow up our argument while I was drunk. So I slept it off in my office and then decided to stay there today to do some work.”

“Ok. I guess Maggie was right when she said I was overreacting. I just assumed the worst when you didn’t answer your phone. You could have texted me if you just didn’t want to talk, I don’t want you to ever feel like you can’t tell me stuff like that.”

“Yeah, sorry it died.” Well that much was true. “Listen, I know we should talk, but I still have some more thinking to do so I want to be by myself tonight. Can you cover for me again?"

Alex sighed. She probably suspected Kara wasn’t being fully honest, but luckily she didn’t push it. "Ok Kara. But can we talk tomorrow? I'm still worried about you"

"There's nothing to worry about. But yeah that's fine, I'll text you tomorrow."

Kara hated lying to Alex but she couldn't deal with her sister right now. She herself didn't even really know what was happening so she couldn't withstand the third degree from Alex. 

As soon as Lena returned she felt confident with her decision. 

\----

Maggie had been eavesdropping on Alex’s call as best she could. Kara was lucky to have super hearing. She was glad that Kara called though, her interference earlier only managed to quell Alex for a few hours. After hanging up, Alex looked more relaxed.

“So, I have good news and bad news.”

Maggie waited for her to continue. “So that was Kara, and you were right, she’s fine.”

“Can you say that again?”

“She’s fine.”

She knew Alex was doing this on purpose. “The other part Danvers.”

“You. Were. Right.”

“Thanks, now remember that the next time you decide to not listen to me. So what’s the bad news, you seem to be in a pretty good mood.”

“I have to work again tonight. I don’t think it’ll be too busy, but I told Kara I’d cover for her.” Alex looked like she was mulling something over. Maggie was disappointed to not be able to spend as much time with her girlfriend, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to do Kara a solid. “I do have another… lead to follow tonight. Do you want to join me?”

“Sure. I didn’t know you were working anything right now.” She was glad Alex was focusing on work. It was exhausting covering for Kara, so this would be a nice break.

“I’m investigating Lena Luthor.” Or not. This really wasn’t Maggie’s week. “Let’s see what she’s up to this weekend. Winn said last night she went somewhere besides her office, according to what Winn saw from her cell phone.”

“Wait, you’re investigating Lena Luthor? Why?”

“Ugh not you too. I assume you’ve heard Kara’s thoughts then.” Kara hadn’t mentioned this the night before, which was a little odd considering the CEO was their sole topic of discussion.

“No, she mentioned you guys got into a fight but didn’t get too much into the details. I figured she didn’t want to make it awkward or something. So that’s what started this whole thing?”

“Yeah. I told Kara that I was going to look into Lena and she flipped. I get that they’re friends, but Kara is far too trusting.” Maggie knew Alex was worried about her sister, but Lena had made a pretty good impression on Maggie. The CEO seemed to genuinely care about Kara.

“Alex, what if Kara is right on this one?”

“Maggie, I’m doing this. Are you with me or not?”

“I’m with you Danvers.”

\---

Lena wasn’t used to this, to having fun. Not that she didn’t enjoy herself, she certainly loved the rush of dominating in the boardroom or coming up with a new scientific breakthrough. But usually social outings for Lena were some sort of gala or other social engagement. Even when she went out on her own, it was usually about blowing off some steam. 

Tonight was different. She first realized something was off when she started to feel a buzz during dinner. She knew it wasn’t the alcohol - Lena Luthor certainly couldn’t get drunk off of two cocktails over a two hour span, or over any span for that matter. She just felt light. Good. Happy. 

It was nice to chat with Kara without any pretense of CatCo articles, L Corp business, or murderous aliens and family members. 

“I can’t believe you haven’t seen Stranger Things! It’s the best. Literally everyone is talking about it and it won all of the SAG awards.”

“I’ve heard it is quite acclaimed and that Winona and the children all give laudable performances.”

“Then why haven’t you seen it.”

“Um, I suppose I don’t watch a lot of TV.” Maybe Kara would let it slide, or chalk it up to a busy CEO life. Lena wasn’t sure she was ready to spill her guilty pleasure. 

“You don’t watch a lot. That means you watch some TV! What shows do you like, Alex and I pretty much watch everything. Are you a Shonda girl? I could so see you getting into Grey’s. I keep telling Alex she looks so much like Lexie Grey but she doesn’t believe me.” Good, not that she didn’t always love Kara's rambles, but she was ready for a transition away from her viewing habits. 

“I admittedly have not seen her programs, though I certainly admire her success. Her TED talk is also a much watch. It's impressive how much her public speaking improved then from her Dartmouth graduation speech, though that's not to say the commencement speech was poor by any means.”

“Wait you haven’t seen any of the Shonda shows? What do you do on Thursday nights?” Lena simply raised an eyebrow at that, hoping it’d do the trick “Oh right, work probably. Well they’re on Hulu anyway; I’m sure you can afford Hulu Plus, Lena. I’m sure you’d love her other shows, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder.” Kara’s jaw dropped briefly and she quickly stumbled with her words once she realized what she said. “Not that I think you’re scandalous! Or trying to get away with murder! Her shows are just really good and feature a lot of strong female characters.”

She reached out, grabbing Kara’s hand to calm her down. “Kara, it’s totally fine. I knew what you meant. And between the two of us, I can be quite scandalous.” Lena didn’t mean to wink, it just came out. Maybe Kara didn’t notice, hopefully she didn’t make things weird.

“I’m sure you are. So, what kind of scandals are we going to get ourselves into with the rest of our evening?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Womp, my updates are all over the place. There'll be another one soon.


	8. We're being watched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena come up with a plan

“Look at the way she’s staring at her, Maggie! It’s like she’s a predator stalking her prey.”

“She does look… hungry I suppose.”

“See! She’s up to no good. Why else would she be looking at her like that?” Alex ignored Maggie’s chuckle. Her girlfriend had a tendency to take everything to the gutter. Honestly Alex just counted herself lucky that Maggie didn’t make That’s What She Said jokes. 

“Alex, don’t you think we should go before Kara sees you.”

“We’re hidden Maggie, outside her line of sight. Plus, she’s wearing her glasses, so we’ll know if she tries to scan the room with her super vision.” Alex knew her sister would be pissed if she found out that she was tailing Lena, and by proxy Kara, but she was even more suspicious after seeing them together. Why would Lena suddenly reach out after weeks of radio silence? 

“I think you underestimate Baby Danvers.”

“Her back is literally to us right now, she can’t see us.”

“I meant with her judge of character. Plus, they’re in a public place, and Kara literally has super powers. What’s the worse that could happen? Do you think Lena’s going to seduce her and secretly line her pussy with kryptonite, tricking Kara into ingesting it?” Alex choked on her water. Of course Maggie would jump to the most salacious conclusion. She knew the detective was just teasing her, but she still couldn’t stop herself from replying. 

“Jeez Maggie, I think you’re watching too much Lost Girl. At least I hope that’s what inspired that thought. And, obviously that’s not her plan, Kara’s straight. Unless, do you think she has pink kryptonite too!? I mean, I thought it was just a rumor, but Maxwell Lord made red kryptonite, of course the Luthors could probably manufacture pink!”

“Chill Danvers, I was joking.”

“This is my sister’s safety, Maggie. We do not joke about that. Why can’t you take this seriously?” Maggie was always professional when they’d teamed up in the past. 

“Because I don’t think Lena Luthor is a threat. At least not to Kara.”

“Oh yeah, then why is she looking at her so intently?” Alex gestured back to where Kara and Lena were seated. When she turned her gaze to follow, she found the table empty. She’d been so distracted by her argument with Maggie, she hadn’t noticed them leave. 

She was about to dial Winn to get a trace when her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was from Kara. _Wow, Alex, what a coincidence that you’re at the same restaurant. Hope you and Maggie enjoy! I took the liberty of booking you a reservation, since you’ve just been sitting outside for the last two hours._

Alex opened her mouth to complain to Maggie when she felt her phone go off again. _P.s. I don’t need super vision to hear you. Now go enjoy dinner with your girlfriend and stop following me._

“Ok. Fine. Would you like to give up on this and go get dinner? Apparently we have reservations.”

\----

If Kara hadn’t been having such a good time, she would have been upset with Alex. At least Maggie’s commentary made the invasion of privacy mildly amusing. Lena had already paid the check, and they were just aimlessly chatting. They were at some fancy French restaurant, a hot spot in National City, and after five courses, even Kara was feeling almost full. She listened in again on Alex and Maggie’s conversation, waiting for an opening until Lena disrupted her thoughts. 

“Kara, are you ok? You seem to be thinking pretty hard.”

“I’m fine, but- I’ll explain in a minute. Do you trust me?” She was almost taken aback at Lena’s immediate nod. “Ok, does this restaurant have a back door?”

“Yes.” If Lena was surprised, she didn’t let it show. Then again Kara had seen the woman remain perfectly calm in several near death situations. 

“Do you know where it is?”

“Of course. Ever since Lex started trying to murder me, I always have a contingency plan at any location.”

“Perfect, on my go, we’re going to slip out the back.” Lena didn’t ask any further questions. Hopefully Kara hadn’t worried her, but she’d explain shortly. Right now, she just needed to listen to Alex get frustrated. She knew at some point, Maggie would end up saying something that would distract the elder Danvers from her mission. _This is my sister’s safety, we do not joke about that!_ Bingo. “Now, straight through the back.”

Lena led the way, and they soon ended up out back in an alley. Kara quickly wrapped her arms around Lena and flew them to a nearby rooftop. Lena was just staring at her in awe, though Kara wasn’t sure why. 

“Sorry, we’re not in danger or anything. I hope I didn’t freak you out. I mean you seemed fine, but I want to check. My sister is just being an overbearing pain and I want to ditch her.” That seemed to snap Lena from her trance. 

“She was following us?”

“Yeah. She and Maggie have been outside the restaurant the whole time. It was getting on my nerves.”

Lena took out her phone quickly making a call. “Yes, it’s Ms Luthor again. No, no everything was excellent as usual. In fact, I need to make another reservation for two. For right now actually. You can send the bill to me, but put the name under Alexandra Danvers. Merci.”

“Wow. This is going to be good.” Kara quickly typed out a text before turning back to Lena. “By the way, why were you looking at me like that? When we first flew up here?”

“Oh it’s nothing.” Kara knew it wasn’t nothing. She’d seen that look on Lena before, but she was trying to place it.

“Oh Rao! Is it because we flew?” Lena bit her lip a little as she gave the slightest of nods. It had taken Kara a while to put together it was actually a nervous habit of the CEO’s, mainly because she found it to be, well, distracting. “Right, you don’t like flying.”

“No, it’s not that. I mean I don’t like flying,” Kara tried not to let her disappointment show. “At least not normally. With you it’s… nice.” Kara beamed, she’d take it. 

“Does that mean we can do it again. I can totally show you the coolest spots. You know your roof at L Corp is one of my favorites, besides CatCo’s.”

“Is that why you visit me then?” She knew Lena was kidding, but she sensed a tinge of insecurity underneath. 

“There’s actually a balcony on that building that draws my attention more, based on who sits on the other side of the glass.”

“Is that so?” Kara nodded. For a moment she forgot that they were both in cocktail dresses standing on the roof of an apartment building next to the restaurant.

“Hmm. We probably should move on from here. Where to?”

“Well, I chose our first locale. It’s only fair that you choose next.”

“You said that you wanted to teach me how to drink. There’s only one place in National city where I can do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready for more drunk Kara? And Lena Luthor at an alien bar?


	9. Flying high

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Super and a Luthor walk into a bar...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dedicate this chapter to my beta, a double dose of nyquil

Lena was afraid of flying, it was true. But there was something magical about being carried in Kara’s arms, she would choose to always travel like this if the option were available. Still, a part of her worried that Kara would get in trouble for flying her like this, especially without her Supergirl attire. Lena tried to shrug it off, after all, Kara had assured her that it was fine, that it was a cloudy night, that they weren’t going too far and would evade notice. She decided to take Kara’s advice, leaning into her grip and enjoying the ride. 

The trip was over far too soon as they landed outside of a dive bar Lena had never seen before. Odd, she thought she was aware of all of the spots in National City. 

“We don’t have to stay here long. The bartender her just knows how to get stuff that will, you know, work on me, but seriously we can leave if you’re not comfortable.” Lena frowned, surely Kara wouldn’t think that she was the kind of person that couldn’t spend a few hours in a dive bar. Just because she had money didn’t mean she was a total snob. 

“Kara, I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m happy to be anywhere you are.”

“Ok, just remember what I said though.” With that, Kara turned toward the door, knocking until someone peeked through an eye slit and Kara whispered a password. So, this was some sort of speakeasy, slightly more intriguing than a dive bar. She stayed near Kara as they entered, noticing the other girl smile a few hellos as they made their way towards the bar. 

Lena observed her surroundings as they made their way through. On the face of it, it was just a regular dive bar, but Lena wasn’t one to take things at face value. She was careful not to stare as she scanned the room, picking up on things like forked tongues, scaly hands, glowing eyes. That explained why Kara could find alcohol that would work on a Kryptonian metabolism here, it was an alien bar. 

Kara placed an order when they arrived at the counter. “I’ll have my regular, and she’ll take a whiskey neat. Make hers a double.” She smiled up at Kara, impressed that she knew her go to. Sure it was simple, but Lena wasn’t used to people noticing that sort of thing without an ulterior motive. The bartender paused, not getting their drinks, her gaze looking beyond Kara and Lena. Lena turned, noticing a group of five or six patrons had approached them. 

“What’s she doing here?” The question was directed at Kara. “Do you know who she is?”  
Kara didn’t back down. “She’s my friend and we’re here to enjoy a drink or two.”

“Don’t play with me girl. You just walked in here with a Luthor, a member of a family that murders aliens like it’s their job.” Lena winced at her name. The thing that hurt is that it wasn’t a false characterization of her family. 

The comment seemed to set Kara off. “Well she is the only reason you are alive today because she is the one who foiled Cadmus’ plan to kill every alien in National City. SHE is the reason that Lillian Luthor, the head of Cadmus is behind bars, and instead of getting thanked for it, she gets death threats from her brother, and apparently from ungrateful scum like you. So why don’t you back off before I-”

Lena grabbed Kara before she got physical with the group. She was certain Kara could take them, but she wanted to prevent things from escalating to that if she could. “Kara, really it’s fine.” She turned back to the group. “I apologize, I really didn’t mean to intrude. I know how important safe spaces are, and it was never my intention to intrude on yours. If my presence here makes you feel uncomfortable, I will take my leave.”

It was silent for a moment. Kara remained tense but still didn’t speak. Someone cleared their throat behind them. The bartender returned, setting two drinks down in front of them. “She can stay. She’s welcome to take refuge here.” The group cleared away at the bartender's words, the moment of tension seemingly forgotten.

“Thanks M’gann.”

“Do not thank me, Kara. Your friend's words showed her intentions clear as day. She needs to be in need of a haven just as much as many of our other patrons.” Lena isn’t sure exactly sure how what she said proved anything, but she was willing to take it. She took a long gulp of her drink, frowning slightly when Kara followed suit. 

“Rule of drinking number one: Don’t try to keep pace with someone who can out drink you.”

“Pffft. What makes you think you can out drink me?”

“You mean other than last night? Which was apparently your second time getting drunk?”

“Ok, fine. How are you so good at it anyway?”

“Years of practice, Kara. Drinking made Luthor galas much more tolerable. And handling my alcohol was important for keeping up appearances and staying under the radar. Both of which were necessary for me to not get caught so that I could stay unsupervised enough to access the alcohol.” Lena took another long drink. It was always bittersweet to reminisce on those days. She never felt particularly happy or at ease during her Luthor upbringing, but it was a simpler time. At least none of her family members were actively trying to murder her then. “It’s not necessarily something to be proud of or aspire to.”

Kara rolled her eyes, “Sure, I bet you’d much rather have the drinking tolerance of a freshman year sorority girl.”

Lena laughed, “I suppose you're right. Well, let’s both aim to find a happy medium then.”

That happy medium turned out to be several hours of drinking, dancing, and poorly attempting to play pool. After a game of 8 ball that had been going on for almost an hour, since neither woman had made a shot in the last ten turns, they gave up, Kara instead trying to use her pool cue as a microphone, belting out the words to Livin’ on a Prayer, which had just come on. Lena wasn’t much more composed, using hers to air guitar along. 

She hadn’t truly let loose like this as long as she could remember. They giggled as they finished, placing their cues back on the wall, thankfully undamaged. They stumbled back to the bar, ordering another round. Kara had been switching between alien alcohol and human alcohol, which had no effect on her, to better keep pace. 

M’gann frowned at them, “Ok, one more, but this is your last one.”

“Thanks Meggy! Have I told you how cool you are? You’re super cool!” Lena couldn’t get over how adorable drunk Kara was. She handed the bartender her card, paying their tab without looking at the bill, throwing down a sizable tip. They leaned up against the bar drinking their final drink, with Lena resting her head on Kara’s side. 

She heard a voice behind them. “You guys know how you’re getting home?”

“Well I’m sure not flying!”

Lena giggled, “You can’t use the same joke two nights in a row Kara.”

“Well, you didn’t laugh last night, so it didn’t count.”

They turned back towards the bar, not expecting M’gann to still be standing there. She spoke again, “Do you need me to call your sister or Maggie?”

“No!”

Lena cut in before Kara could continue, “It’s fine, my driver will be able to give us a ride home.” After seeing that Kara looked comfortable with that option, M’gann simply nodded and walked away. 

A few minutes later, they were curled up in the back of Lena’s town car. “Leeeeena?” Lena simply hummed in response. “Can we have another sleepover?”

Lena snuggled further into Kara’s side. “I would love nothing more.”

They made their way into Lena’s penthouse for the second night in a row, this time Kara a little more coordinated than the night before, and Lena slightly less than herself the previous night. Lena made no attempt to make up the couch, Kara instead following her directly into the bedroom. Kara removed her dress and Lena tried not to stare as she did the same. She knew Kara was standing behind her in next to nothing, and even though Lena had accidentally seen the woman completely naked that morning, she averted her gaze. 

She was about to grab them something to wear to sleep when she felt Kara grab her by the waist, spinning her around so that they were face to face, drawing her in so that she was pressed against the other woman. She could barely breathe, unsure what was going to happen next. She knew it was likely the other woman could hear how fast her heart was beating but she remained frozen in place. 

The next thing she knew, Kara’s lips were on hers. Lena returned the kiss, her body reacting faster than her mind. Kara deepened the kiss, and Lena let out a moan as Kara pinned her to the bed. She opened her mouth letting Kara’s tongue in, losing herself momentarily. Kara’s hands had begun trailing down her body, but she didn’t fully register where they were going until she felt a hand slowly tracing her underwear. She let out another moan as Kara moved her hand down further, feeling her wetness through the fabric. It was then that Lena snapped back to reality. 

She wanted this so badly, but knew it couldn’t happen. She reluctantly pulled back, “Kara wait,” Kara pulled back, still hovering over her, brow furrowing, “I really want to do this. But I don’t think it’s a good idea right now, you know, when we’ve been drinking. I don’t want you to regret anything.” _I don’t want to be your mistake_ , she left unsaid. 

“I promise I’ll still want to do this in the morning.”

“Good, then let’s wait until then.”

She wasn’t sure how Kara was going to react. Still, even in her drunken state, Lena didn’t want to risk taking advantage of Kara, or getting her own hopes up and her heart broken in the process. “Fiiiiiine. But we still get to snuggle tonight.”

“That seems like a fair compromise.” Kara moved in even closer, wrapping her arms tightly around Lena. It may have been the alcohol, but Lena couldn’t recall ever falling asleep so peacefully. Even if Kara changed her mind in the morning, at least Lena would have the memory of tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't joking about the nyquil, I'm actually sick in bed lol. Hopefully this was literate.


	10. Good morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara reflects on the previous night

Kara woke up in an unknown location for the second time in as many days. Her had was wrapped around a bare stomach and something felt familiar about this scenario. 

She breathed in, recognizing the smell. _Lena. Right, last night._ She tried to remember the details. They were at the alien bar, they played some pool, had some drinks. Well, maybe more than some. She smiled as she recalled playing the jukebox, convincing Lena to dance. They had taken it upon themselves to do some impromptu Karaoke in the middle of the alien bar. In hindsight, she wish she got Lena’s rendition of Call Me Maybe on video. 

It got a little blurry after that. They attempted to play pool - good thing Alex wasn’t there, she’d never let Kara live that down. The two of them got a combined three balls in, and one was a scratch so it didn’t even count. 

She was pretty sure they went back home, er well to Lena’s home, after that. To Lena’s bedroom, oh God, she kissed Lena. And then basically tackled her. And oh wow, then things escalated. She’d had her hand on Lena’s- wait but Lena kissed her back. And then Lena stopped her. Kara’s brow furrowed. So did Lena like or not like what was happened last night?

Everything was fuzzy, Kara was pretty sure she was still a little buzzed. She leaned in closer pulling Lena to her, snuggling into her side. _In the morning._ That’s what Lena had said. Well it was morning now, and plus what did she have to lose? If Lena was mad at her from last night it’s not like she’d make it worse this morning. 

“Lena,” she whispered close to the woman’s ear, hoping she didn’t startle her. She heard a light hum in response as Lena pressed closer into her. Well, it was all or nothing. She lightly kissed Lena’s neck, pleasantly surprised when the other woman turned her head, allowing Kara better access. “Is this okay?” she asked between her kisses. She was pretty sure, based on the accelerated heart rate, that Lena was enjoying her actions, but Kara didn’t want to assume. 

“Mmmmm. This is nice,” Lena confirmed. After a moment, she turned and met Kara’s lips. It was slower than the night before, less urgent, as Kara deepened the kiss. Kara lost track of time, she could kiss Lena indefinitely, but Lena eventually pulled back resting their foreheads together. Kara went to look at the other woman, unprepared for what she saw. Lena Luthor, staring back at her, looking, well, she wasn’t quite sure, she couldn’t place it. Was she scared? She couldn’t say indefinitely, Kara had never actually seen Lena scared before. 

“Kara.” She was pretty sure she wouldn’t have heard the other woman speak without her super hearing. She didn’t say anything, giving Lena time to speak. After what seemed like an eternity, she continued, “I really care about you.” Crap, was this the part where Lena ended it? She hadn’t realized she tensed up at the words until she felt Lena rub her arm in assurance. “I’m, well I’m not used to caring about people, so this is rather unprecedented for me, especially as of late.” Kara wasn’t totally sure where Lena was going with this, but she was going to let her finish mainly so she didn’t interrupt with some word vomit. “What I mean to say is that this,” she gestured between the two of them, “is serious for me. So if you don’t feel the same way, I mean if last night was due to the alcohol,” Lena averted her gaze, not wanting to see Kara’s reaction, or this is just something casual for you, I think it would be best if we remain friends.”

So she was right, Lena was scared. Kara gently grabbed Lena’s cheek, bringing her back up to meet her gaze. “I’m in this, I want this. I want you.” Lena surged forward drawing their lips together again. She used the momentum to flip them, straddling Kara. Clearly that was the right thing to say. Kara knew they should probably talk before things escalated further, but she was reluctant to stop, enjoying every bit of this. Lena bit Kara’s ear, momentarily short circuiting her thoughts. Kara kissed Lena’s neck, smiling into it, knowing that would leave a mark. 

She was pulled out of her trance by a familiar sound. Shit, that was her ringtone. She was ready to ignore it, when Lena pulled back, sliding off of her. She sighed, using her super speed to zip across the room and answer it. 

“Alex, hi.”

“Kara, are you ok? Why are you out of breath?”

“Oh you know, just getting in my morning workout. What’s up, why are you calling so early?”

“It’s noon, Kara. And you said we would talk today. Are you sure you’re ok?”

Kara turned back towards the bed, looking at the clock on Lena’s nightstand. It read 12:04. Rao, it was easy to lose track of time with Lena. Speaking of, her gaze moved to the other woman, who was staring up at Kara, eyes raking over her. 

“Kara? Are you there?”

“Alex. Right, Alex, yeah I’m here. I just, uh, didn’t realize it got so late. Lost track of time with my workout. Right we were going to talk today, let’s meet at Noonan’s in an hour.”

“Ok, yeah, you must be hungry.” Kara’s gaze had returned to Lena, laying there in almost nothing.

“You have no idea.”

She hung up from her sister, crawling back onto the bed, next to Lena.

“I’m guessing you have to go.”

“In a little bit. Alex has been on my case, and I promised her we would talk today.” She rested her head on Lena’s chest. “The last time we talked in person, things got a little heated, and she knows I’ve been avoiding her. I know she’s always looking out for me, but I’m still kind of mad at her.”

“Does this have anything to do with why she and the detective were coincidently outside the restaurant we had dinner at last night?”

“Yeah, Alex is investigating you. She has this crazy idea that you’re evil or something. I’m sure Maggie was just along to keep her in check - if she thought something was up, she wouldn’t have left when we were at L Club Friday night. But, yeah, that’s what the fight with Alex was about. She told me about her plan at the DEO Friday afternoon, and I kind of lost it on her.”

Kara was sure if she looked up, she’d see one of Lena’s eyebrows raised in a perfect arch. “Friday afternoon? That was before we… started talking again.”

“Yeah, that’s why I came to your balcony. And then to your door - Jess has really stepped up her game by the way, it was like so not possible to get past her without my powers this time. I almost considered blowing my cover but then I came up with another plan.”

“Another plan?” Shit. Well, it was going to come out sooner or later. 

“It may not have been a total coincidence that Maggie and I were at L Club. Imayhavefollowedyouthere.”

“Come again?”

“I well, I may have, um followed you.” Lena let out a laugh, well that was a good sign. “I just really wanted to see you and I thought maybe you’d talk to me if we happened to run into each other in public? On more neutral ground?”

“Wow, both of the Danvers sisters tailing me, I must cause quite the stir. Well, despite how uncanny your methods were, I suppose they were successful.”

“So, you’re not mad?”

Lena planted a kiss on the top of her head, “No. I admit, coming from anyone else, it would be creepy to say the least, but it was also unfair for me to completely ignore you. And well, honestly, I’m kind of touched. No one’s ever gone through such effort to keep me in their life before.”

“Well, you’re stuck with me now, no take backs.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” They laid there for a few more minutes. Kara turned back to the clock, shit, it was almost one. With her super speed, she would be able to get their on time, but she wouldn’t be able to stop at her apartment. She really didn’t want to draw any more suspicion looking all walk of shame in the dress from the night before. Luckily Lena seemed to read her mind.”

“You can borrow anything you want. You’re welcome to anything here.”

“Thanks,” Kara zipped around the room, finding something that hopefully wouldn’t look too different from her normal attire. She sped back to Lena, giving her another kiss, “I’ll call you later,” before jumping out the window to go meet Alex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuup, so that's the slowest I could let this burn.


	11. Are you wearing Gucci?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Kara finally talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooooops I kind of forgot about this and then had way too many feels about 2x12 to properly function. But I'm picking this back up now

Alex was oddly nervous. She wasn’t used to fighting, or at least disagreeing, with Kara. Obviously they didn’t always see eye to eye, but it usually blew over after a couple of hours. This was uncharted territory, she hadn’t seen Kara since their argument on Friday. And based on Kara’s texts Saturday night, she was definitely aware that Alex had disregarded her order to ‘Stay the hell away from Lena.’

But, what was Alex to do? She had to follow her gut, and something wasn’t adding up here. She saw Kara enter the restaurant right on time, making her way over to the booth. Well, she didn’t look too angry at least, though she also wasn’t wearing her usual happy look. They were in public, so it wasn’t like she could make a scene even if she was mad.

Kara sat down, “I’m starving, food before talking,” Alex simply nodded as Kara flagged down the waitress and ordered two dozen sticky buns. She observed her younger sister as she ate, she found it odd that she didn’t recognize Kara’s clothes. The pants were definitely new, and looked a little more formal than what Kara would normally wear. Alex Danvers could recognize suit pants when she saw them. And the shirt was a button down, but it wasn’t from J Crew or Ralph Lauren. She couldn’t help herself. 

“Are you wearing Gucci?” she blurted out. Kara coughed, the comment catching her off guard. She didn’t answer for a moment, electing to mull over her response as she finished her food. 

“Yes.” Wow, she really wasn’t getting anything out of her. 

“Since when do you wear top line designers, Kar? Not that it doesn’t look great, but where’d you get the shirt?” She could tell she caught Kara off guard. 

“I went shopping with a friend, if you must know.”

“Was this friend Lena Luthor.”

“Why would you assume that?”

“C’mon Kara, you know two people that can afford things like that, and Cat Grant is out of town. Plus, we both know you had dinner with Luthor last night. So what’s the deal?”

“As I’ve told you before, Alex, Lena is a friend. Yesterday, we hung out, went shopping, got a bite to eat. You know, things friends do.”

“Yeah ok, but do friends really just go silent for weeks, then all of a sudden buy you expensive clothes and take you to a top of the line restaurant?”

“Are we really getting into this again? What’s this really about, Alex?”

“I just think it’s odd that all of a sudden you’re buddy-buddy again. Wasn’t she avoiding you? And Supergirl too?”

Kara let out a sigh. Alex might have been a little aggressive in the line of questioning, but they needed to talk about this. “Again, she wasn’t avoiding me, Alex. She wanted some time to process after a kind of traumatic event - you know the thing where she incarcerated her last family member? And, yeah, she wasn’t thrilled about the bogus interview, you all were right, it wasn’t my, well, sneakiest moment, but we talked through it like adults. I explained that I didn’t know how much she knew or didn’t know about her mother’s involvement and was trying to approach the situation delicately. She understood and we moved on, it was all very adult and undramatic.”

It sounded plausible. Alex knew better than anyone it was hard to stay mad at Kara, but she still wasn’t going to back down yet. “And Supergirl?”

That seemed to catch Kara off guard. Did she forget that Lena also wasn’t speaking to Supergirl? Frankly that was the bigger of Alex’s concerns. The Super/Luthor thing was not something she could ignore. “We talked about Supergirl, well sort of. Lena mentioned she wished she hadn’t lied to Supergirl, but she thought it was the only way she could ensure the virus was inert. I’ll probably visit her as Supergirl this week, and everything will smooth over.”

“Hmmmm.”

“You still don’t trust her.” 

“Of course I don’t trust her, everything just seems off to me. What did you tell her about last night by the way? Does she suspect anything? I know it wasn’t you who actually got those reservations, so you must have told her something.”

“Pffft. I can get reservation. I’ll have you know that an up and coming CatCo reporter has some sway.”

“Kara, the waiter greeted us by saying we could help ourselves to anything on the menu, and that a guest of Ms Luthor’s was always welcome free of charge.”

“Okay, yeah she got the reservations.”

“So, what did you say, that your sister was following her? That was probably super casual.”

“Hey, you’re the one creepily following her. And, no, I played it off more smoothly than that. I told her that Maggie texted me, mentioning she was called to the restaurant to help deal with a crowd of paparazzi that had gathered out front. Lena suggested we leave from the back and offered to get Maggie a reservation as a thanks for the head’s up.” It was actually pretty ingenious, she had to hand it to Kara. 

“Ok, that was pretty smooth.”

“Don’t sound too shocked.”

“I wasn’t being creepy though, I was doing my job.”

“Ugh, Alex, it’s like we’re talking in circles here. Lena is my friend, and I don’t care if you don’t trust her - I do. And that at least should matter to you.”

Alex had to pick her battles here, Kara was really getting upset about this. Generally, her sister had a pretty good judge of character. “Fine, Kara. I’ll stop actively investigating Lena. But if anything comes up in the regular channels, I will not hesitate to follow up on it.”

“Ok, I guess that’s good enough for now. Plus, I know she’ll win you over in time.”

“You sound pretty sure of that. I don’t imagine our paths will be crossing too much.”

“Oh, that’s right, I didn’t tell you yet,” Kara gave her her biggest grin, “Lena’s coming to game night!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I have several chapters already written and never posted so my sporadic updates will continue.


	12. Game night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Superfriends have a Game Night, though Maggie sees it as more of a gayme night

After a long week, Kara was glad to have some time to hang out with her friends. The others would be over later, but she had invited Winn over early to catch up. She missed having him at CatCo. While she still saw him at the DEO, it wasn’t the same, especially with her sister and J’onn around all the time. 

“So dish. What’s going on?”

“Hmmm?” Kara wasn’t sure what he was talking about. There was no way he could know about any of the Lena stuff, right? It’s not like she was ashamed or anything, but she wanted to keep it to herself for a little while. 

“You and Alex? You guys got into a huge fight.” Well, maybe it’d be hard to avoid the topic completely. 

“We had a difference of opinion. We’re okay now though.” She needed to change the topic. “So what have you been up to? You’ve been busy lately too, right? J’onn said you took a couple nights off.”

“Oh yeah.. You know how it goes, I’ve just been doing… Things. And stuff.” Well, that was strange, it’s like he was trying to hide something, but maybe she was projecting. 

“Have you seen James lately.”

“James? James who? Oh James Olson, my former coworker. Um nope have barely seen him.”

“Okayyyy.” Well that was definitely weird. She had though James was avoiding her, but chalked it up to awkwardness due to their breakup. She considered pressing, before deciding she’d let it drop for now. “So, let’s order some pizza and potstickers. The others will be here in a bit.”

\----

Maggie wondered if she had some sort of gay goggles. Did Kara and Lena really think they were being subtle? How did no one else see it?

They were at the Danvers game night, and Lena had been invited, supposedly as Kara’s friend. It’s not that the woman didn’t fit in, she and Winn nerded on about science and gadgets, she was one of the few people that could keep pace with Maggie’s sarcasm, and obviously her and Kara were… close. Admittedly, things were a bit icy between her with James and Alex, but that had more to do with the Luthor name than Lena herself. 

She guessed she could maybe understand Winn and James being oblivious. They both had to deal with their own Kara crushes. They were probably too focused on only seeing her as a friend now to see what was right in front of them. 

But Alex, she was a baby gay? How did she not at least suspect something was up, especially with all of Maggie’s less than subtle jokes. Wasn’t she supposed to be going through the phase where she thought literally everyone was gay? Maggie was pretty sure that was still a thing, but maybe the rules had changed since her time. Maybe you got a Keurig instead of a toaster now too. 

Seriously though, Lena was pretty much sitting on Kara’s lap now. And they held hands on like four different occasions tonight. Like, what was everyone else thinking when Kara rested her head in Lena’s lap during the movie? That they were just gal pals? She scoffed at the heteronormativity. 

“Something you want to share with the class, Sawyer?” Shit. She didn’t mean for that to be out loud. While she was shocked the others hadn’t noticed on their own, she wouldn’t be the one to out Baby Danvers and the younger Luthor. She had to come up with something quick, trying to remember what was going on in the room during her musings. What had Winn just said, something about being surprised about how much Lena was winning. 

“I just think it’s funny that Schott here is shocked that the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company is kicking his ass at Monopoly.” _Phew, good save Maggie._

“I’m not surprised at how much she’s winning by, I just didn’t know she could be this scary!”

Maggie couldn’t help but laugh at that, “What? Lena can be terrifying!”

“I feel like there’s a story behind that,” James chimed in. Whoops, well this wasn’t her best deflection, but hey, it was a fun story at least. 

“So, have none of you heard this one?” She was met with a sea of blank faces. Lena shot her a weary look, which only fueled her more. Hey, she was only human. _Had she not told Kara?_

“Well, it was about two weeks ago, Kara and I decided to go out for a drink, get to know each other better since me and Alex were new.” The least she could do is alter the story to avoid suspicion, “So Kara head’s to the bathroom and I get us another round. Of course, Kara’s was just soda, so I tipped the flask to mix it for her, since you all know Baby Danvers has her particular taste in alcohol.” Maggie was pretty sure everyone in the room knew Kara’s secret, but she assumed no one was aware Lena knew, so she treaded carefully. “Next thing I know, I’m face to face with Lena Luthor, and she is PISSED. She’s sitting here telling me she saw that, demanding to know what I put in Kara’s drink.

“Anyway, I’m my normal, charming self, but Luthor isn’t having any of it. Next thing I know, she’s giving me the third degree - by the way, you wouldn’t make a bad detective Luthor, that eerily calm angry thing you can do is pretty effective - threatening to have me thrown out of the club and locked up. She thought I was roofying Kara’s drink! 

“So here I am, scrambling to explain that I’m a cop, a cop who was dating Kara’s sister. But she wasn’t slowing down, what’d you say Luth, something like ‘I don’t care who you are or who Kara is, I won’t stand for anyone slipping anything into someone’s drink in this club.’ Luckily I was finally able to get a word in and explain that it was actually Kara’s flask and she had these weird dietary restrictions. Otherwise I would have spent the night in a cell and probably been banned from the club for life.”

Everyone had a good laugh at the story, no doubt due to Maggie’s showmanship. But the detective carefully tried to read the room. Kara was looking at Lena with a fixed gaze, this was clearly the first time she’d heard the story. _You’re welcome Luthor, someone’s getting laid tonight._ She turned to Alex, noticing something behind her laugh. She was suspicious, not that that was a shocker after the last few days.


	13. It's not what it looks like

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a new development in Alex' investigation

Alex was feeling conflicted. As much as she enjoyed being right, she was starting to second guess whether she wanted her hunch to be proved correct. If her theory was true, it would be a huge blow to Kara, so as much as the agent didn’t trust Lena Luthor, a part of her hoped the woman was innocent. 

She would hate for Kara to have to deal with a close friend’s betrayal. Kara didn’t have a lot of close friends, and Alex knew for a fact that Winn and James were currently lying to her, which was bound to blow up eventually. If Lena Luthor lived up to her name, all of a sudden Mon El would even be in the running for Kara’s closest friend, for lack of better options.She wasn’t sure what Kara saw in the Daxomite, but she suspected there could be something there. 

So, while Alex remained cautious, she wasn’t actively investigating Lena Luthor. But if she happened to have Winn run a kryptonite scan of National City, surely there’s no reason to not pay close attention to L Corp. 

“Alex, you have to see this.” She followed Winn’s line of sight, to where he pointed on the screen. “It’s Kryptonite. But there’s something strange about it. I think it’s synthetic, but it’s more similar to real kryptonite than the stuff Maxwell Lord was making last year.”

Under different circumstances, Alex would be pleased to hear the Luthor woman was a more competent scientist than Maxwell Lord, but her feminism took a backseat to upholding the law. _And protecting Kara._

It was a long ride, and Alex was dreading this moment. Kara was going to kill her, or Lena, she wasn’t sure which. Even with Lena caught red handed, Kara was likely to defend the woman, which is why Alex decided not to call her first. No, she would get a confession before letting Kara know, no reason to drag it out. 

A woman tried to stop her, “Miss Luthor isn’t available right now.” Alex simply held out her badge, going with FBI seemed like a nice touch, and brushed past the secretary, drawing her gun. 

She kicked down the door, storming in the office. For her part, Lena looked surprised to see her. “Agent Danvers,” The raven-haired woman’s eyes dropped to Alex’ gun, “I take it this is not a social call. Is everything ok? Is Kara safe?”

“Lena Luthor. You are under arrest for possession of Kryptonite and attempted aiding and abetting in a jailbreak.”

\----

Admittedly, Lena knew this didn’t look great. A Luthor caught with Kryptonite, yeah that definitely wasn’t a good look. She couldn’t help herself though. Once Kara had mentioned the green room and other technology at the DEO, it got Lena’s inventive mind going. No one seemed to want to take note that Lena was also working on the sunbed too - what evil would she be planning on doing with something that would give Kryptonians more strength? 

“I’ll give you one chance to tell us who you’re working with.” Kara’s sister could be scary. Still, Lena was a Luthor, and while she wasn’t evil like the rest of her family, she would certainly still be dignified.

“I swear it’s not what it looks like.” Wow, that sounded weak. 

“So, you didn’t have a quantity of Kryptonite at L Corp then. Oh dear, let me get my glasses checked.”

“We both know you don’t wear glasses, Agent Danvers, I’ve beaten you at scrabble enough to know that,” _Shit Lena, this really wasn’t the time for sass,_ “Obviously it’s Kryptonite, but it’s not for some nefarious purpose like you seem to think.”

“Then, please, Ms Luthor, enlighten me on why you thought it was a great idea to manufacture a large quantity of Kryptonite. And by the way, a scrabble burn, really? You should get some pointers from the rest of your family on better super villain dialogue.”

“I am not like my family, Agent Danvers. I was trying to help, albeit I can understand that it doesn’t look that way. Supergirl and I were chatting about your organization. Oh, don’t give me that look, I knew from day one you weren’t really in the FBI. She mentioned the training room and the sunbeds, I wanted to see if I could recreate the technology, in case she had need of it. I felt it was the least I could do since she’s saved my life, and my building, on several occasions.” 

It was a flimsy excuse, but what else could she say. _Gee, Agent Danvers, I’m actually dating your sister, who by the way, I know is Supergirl, and I thought it would be fun if I built a room like the one you use when you train so she didn’t have to hold back when we bang. By the way, does she ever bruise when you guys train, because the idea of being able to mark her really turns me on. But please don’t mention it to her yet, because we haven’t discussed it and it was a surprise?_ Yeah, Lena would rather rot in prison than have that conversation. Alex would probably lock her up even if she believed that answer anyway. 

Maybe once she saw Kara, the truth could come out, but she was patient enough to wait until then. Surely, even if Kara was upset, she’d at least come see her. A few weeks ago, she may have doubted it, but now she felt resolute. Even if Kara did believe whatever story was being spun about Lena, she’d at least confront her to her face. So what’s the worst that could happen in the meantime?

Lena wished she didn’t tempt fate like that. After, they booked and processed Lena, making her change into prison garb, which she was confident she could still pull off, and subjected her to the standard ‘squat and cough’ (she was a little less certain that could be pulled off in a dignified manner), they stuck a needle in her arm that knocked her out almost instantly.

She came too some time later, trying to take note of her surroundings. She was in a glass cage, in the center of some sort of larger warehouse. She assumed, with the DEO’s resources it was indestructible and they were at a remote location. She sensed she wasn’t alone. 

“Lena. I wish I could say it’s a pleasure to see you.” Fuck, this was her worst case scenario. 

“Mother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuppp. Clearly I started writing this before 2x12, but whatevs.


	14. They call her Supergirl for a reason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara goes on a warpath.

Kara was on a warpath. She couldn’t believe it when Winn gave her the call. “They did what?”

“I mean, there was no other way Kara. She had Kryptonite at L Corp, what did you expect them to do?”

“Where is she Winn?”

“Kara, what are you going to do? Maybe you’re too close to this one, just let the other agents-”

“Just tell me where the fuck she is Winn!” Winn let out some sort of squeal at that. Kara had probably never yelled at him like that before, but she’d deal with that later. 

“They’re holding her at a black site, under the command of Major Lane. I’ll send you the coordinates.”

Kara hadn’t been this mad since she was on the red K. She wasn’t even wholly sure who she was mad at. Maybe everyone. Lena, for having kryptonite? Maybe, but the woman at least deserved a chance to explain. Kara really couldn’t believe she was up to no good. Alex, for locking her up? Well, kind of. She was just doing her job, though, and Alex was always the type to act first and ask questions later. Lucy, for, well having them at her black site? She actually wasn’t sure what Lucy’s involvement was, and usually she’d be excited to see the other woman after such a long time. Maybe Kara was just mad that no one told her anything before taking such drastic actions.

But if she was mad before, she was downright livid when she arrived and some two bit guard had the nerve to tell her she couldn’t enter. 

“Supergirl, this is a restricted site.” The guard attempted to block her entrance. 

“I can melt through the damn wall if I want, are you really going to try to stand in my way?” She usually wasn’t into intimidation, but this was urgent. It did the trick, and she brushed past the guard. She heard Lucy giving orders, following the sound of her voice.

“Search the perimeter, see if her claims are true. If she’s right, we’ll need to call in J’onn, and maybe even Supergirl.”

“You rang.” Lucy and Alex turned to greet her, though neither of them seemed particularly shocked. 

“Kara!” Lucy started, before Alex jumped in. 

“Before you get mad, Kar,”

“Too late”

“Right, well either way. Don’t break Lena out of that cage. It’s a trap, Lillian’s planning something.”

“You put her with Lillian! What the fuck, Alex,” Before they had a chance to talk more, Kara’s super hearing tuned in on a cry of pain. _Lena._ She bolted in that direction, entering a large open room, with a glass cage in the center. It looked eerily familiar, except this time Lillian Luthor was on the other side, with Lena on the ground nearby. 

“Ah, Supergirl. Come to see the beating my daughter’s taken on your behalf?” Her blood boiled. She started forward until a voice froze her in her tracks. 

“Supergirl, don’t,” It was strange to hear Lena call her Supergirl. Of course the woman would put keeping Kara’s secret above her own safety. “Lillian wants you to open the cage, she has Cyborg Superman nearby waiting to help her escape. Take him out first.”

Lillian let out a drawn out sigh, “Again, such a disappointment. You’d think at some point today I’d have beaten some sense into you. Never had a sense of tact though, did you. Well, nevermind, you may have ruined my element of surprise, and complicated things by preventing my escape from this stupid glass block, but we will still prevail. I am certain Mr. Henshaw will still be able to defeat Supergirl and rescue me in due time. What will be left of you, daughter, when all is said and done, is up for debate.”

As if on cue, Hank Henshaw, the original one, not her green martian mentor, busted into the building. Great, Kara had been itching for a fight. Kara kind of lost herself in the chaos of it, just focusing on hit after hit. Is this what Sara Lance felt like? She felt like she understood her friend from the alternative earth a bit better now. 

She succeeded in incapacitating Henshaw, and was about to melt his face off when she heard Alex’s voice cut through. “Kara, stop! I know you’re mad, but don’t be like them.”

Ugh, she hated that Alex was right. Especially when Kara was still not thrilled with her sister, but still, she backed off. Lillian Luthor and Hank Henshaw would rot in prison, and that was victory enough for today. She had someone more important to worry about. 

\---

Alex wasn’t the greatest at apologies, but she knew she had to talk to Kara. And knew she had to apologize right away, rather than avoid it. _I mean, at least I didn’t literally stab a relative of hers in the back with a Kryptonite sword this time._

They’d gotten back to the DEO a couple hours prior, hoping their main facility would be safe from Lillian Luthor and her companions. Lena Luthor was being treated in medical, although there wasn’t anything too serious, although Alex had been told she wasn’t the best judge of that sort of thing. Non-lethal was kind of her definition of NBD. 

Kara, well Supergirl, didn’t leave her side after flying her in. A part of Alex was concerned Kara would blow her cover. but J’onn didn’t seem to mind, so Alex certainly wasn’t going to step in, when she was likely already on thin ice with Kara. Plus, if she was going to insist on being at the DEO while Lena was treated, better if Lena woke up to her as Supergirl than Kara Danvers. Lena Luthor probably wouldn’t believe a top secret alien related government facility had a take your little sister to work day.

The doctor finally shooed Kara away, insisting Ms Luthor was fine, but needed to rest. Kara looked like she was about to protest when J’onn cleared his throat.

“Supergirl, come join us in comms for debriefing, then you can return to check on Ms. Luthor if you wish.” He turned and exited the room, while Alex chose to linger by the doorway and wait to grab Kara for a minute. 

“I’m sorry.” Well, bandaid off at least. Kara just stared back at her, though she couldn’t quite identify the emotion. It wasn’t anger, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “And, um, I’m glad she’s okay.”

She wasn’t sure what kind of response she expected. Maybe anger, maybe silence if Kara wanted a chance to process. Probably anger. _Putting her in the same cell as Lillian was not my best play._ Even if the cell is the most indestructible cell the government owns. 

But the last thing Alex anticipated was for Kara to pull her in a tight hug, letting a sob escape from her chest. Alex didn’t know what was happening, but knew this wasn’t like the hug after Kara forgave her about Astra. No that was so broken, so full of grief. This hug felt familiar, but it wasn’t that - Alex was reminded of their childhood, when Kara was having trouble adjusting to her new world or remembering her old one. _She’s scared. But why?_

Lillian had been moved to another location. And Cyborg Superman was captured and detained in the custody of the DEO. Sure, Cadmus was still on the loose, but they had made progress considering they had one more asset, arguably their best one, locked up. What could have gotten Kara this upset?

And then it suddenly clicked. _Lena._ Of course Kara would be worried about her friend. “Hey, Kar, it’s going to be okay. We’ll get all of Cadmus. Everyone will be safe. Lena won’t have to worry about her mother anymore.”

Kara sniffed, then pulled back. She did a quick spin, using the gust of air to dry her face, then turning back to Alex. “I’m still mad at you.” She paused, giving Alex a small smile. “But thanks, I needed that.”

“Anytime.” They could talk later. She knew Kara would be mad, justifiably so in part. And while Alex couldn’t doubt Lena Luthor had taken a beating for them - literally - a part of her still wondered about the Kryptonite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. Yeah my bad on throwing that intesneness out of left field last chap. Never fear, there is fluff on the horizon.


	15. Bright Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even while in a hospital bed, Lena is an Extra genius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clearly this is what I should be doing at 2am on a week night

The bright lights indicated to Lena that she was alive. In a medical facility, she deduced, either in the prison, at the mysterious DEO headquarters, or, worst case scenario, at a hideout of her mother’s. Knowing Kara, it’d be the second, but she’d be happy in any situation as long as Kara was safe.

She quickly snapped her eyes shut, deciding to take a moment to gather her thoughts before alerting anyone to the fact that she was awake. The lights hurt, her head hurt, in fact any moving seemed painful at this point, but she knew she needed to find some staff member to get some indication of where she was. And, as always, she knew she had to be smart about it, weigh her options, and come up with a plan. She knew better to ask about Kara Danvers, since if they were anywhere besides the DEO, that could risk blowing her cover, but she dreaded what her mother would have to say about Supergirl. _Well, if mother has me, there’s a good chance I’ll recognize the technology when I open my eyes. Plus, I won’t have a chance to ask questions, she rather enjoys her villain style monologues._

She kept her eyes shut, trying to hear what she could. She heard movement, voices, but everything sounded far away and she couldn’t hear anyone clearly. She waited for someone to enter. If they were high ranking, whether in the government or Cadmus, they would likely be talking. In that case, she planned on pretending to still be out until she learned more. On the other hand, if it were an orderly or nurse, she was pretty confident she could pump them for intel.

It turned out, Lena’s cautiousness was unnecessary. _Well, I suppose one could argue that planning for the worst makes a positive outcome that much more rewarding. See, I can be an optimist._ She knew she could breathe easy when she heard footsteps approaching the room and voices just outside.

“Based on the doctors time estimates, I anticipate Ms. Luthor will be waking up soon.” She wasn’t sure who the voice belonged to, but it sounded authoritative. _Knew it, those types always talk._ “As a high ranking person in this government organization,” _Damn, I know I’m good but that’s a little nail on the head,_ “I’d like to be nearby when she wakes up.”

“J’onn, why are you talking so weird? And wasn’t the doc’s estimate a few hours, that’s pretty vague.” She knew that voice. _Agent Danvers_ . Good, that meant at least she wasn’t with Cadmus, and that, more importantly, Kara was hopefully unharmed by her mother’s latest human experiment. _Unless, what if-_ but before she could go to a darker place, another voice broke in.

“Oh, hell no,” At the sound of Kara’s voice, Lena’s eye’s shot open, relieved that Kara was okay. _She’s safe._ _Damn, there are those damn lights again._ She tried to sit up, only to be met with an increase in pain to her torso. _Right, those kicks to the ribs may have had some impact._

“There is no way you two are going in there to grill her, or whatever shenanigans you have planned, the second she wakes up.” Lena felt her heart rate increase at the sound of Kara defending her. That, or the fact her girlfriend thought shenanigans was an acceptable word to use while chastising someone. Or the reminder that Kara had sworn a minute ago, and she was going to file that for later, when she was healed up enough to make use of that knowledge.

She looked up just in time to speed into the room immediately to her side. “Supergirl.” It felt weird to call Kara that, but she wasn’t really sure she felt like signing a bunch of NDAs, or whatever they made people, do right now.

“Lena,” Her heart jumped more at the sound of Kara saying her name.

“Agent Danvers, let’s give Supergirl a minute to catch up with her... friend.” _Did he pause before saying friend? Is he suspicious I’m evil and pretending to be her friend? Or does he know the truth? Or am I just paranoid?_ “Supergirl, we’re going to get the doctor to give Ms. Luthor an update.” He paused, making sure Kara was actually listening, giving her a pointed look. “But we will need to ask her some questions after that.”

He didn’t wait for a verbal acknowledgement, walking away while giving Agent Danvers a nod to follow. Lena turned back to meet Kara’s relieved gaze.

“You’re ok.”

“Thanks to you.” It was easy to ignore the lingering effects of your injuries while Kara was nearby. “Have I ever told you my hero?”

“Pfffft. How many pain meds are you on? Plus, you know I’m not supergirl for that hero stuff.”

“I assure you I’m not on any pain medication.” She was a Luthor afterall, and years of boarding school had led her to dabble in all sorts of prescription drugs, as rich kids often do. She knew she wasn’t on anything. “Check the chart with that X-Ray vision of yours,” despite the circumstances she still had to wink, “and I bet you’ll see that they gave me nothing stronger than a few acetaminophen, they can’t have me all doped up when they ask their questions.” She paused for a moment, looking around for anyone nearby and lowering her voice. “And, most importantly, I’m not talking about Supergirl, while that part of you is great. Kara Danvers, well, Kara Zor-El, you’re my hero.”

Kara surged forward, decreasing her speed at the very last moment, to gently meet her lips. Lena tried to deepen the kiss, but Kara slowly pulled back. “I’d love nothing more, but not until the doctor has cleared you.” Kara grabbed her hand, before continuing, “I’m really happy you’re ok.”

“I’m sorr-”

“Nooope,” Kara cut her off, “Not right now. We can talk about anything and everything back at home later, but right now I just want you to rest up. Plus we need to talk about how I’m your hero.” Kara beamed, and Lena was happy to take the teasing if it meant she could see Kara smile. “And seriously, did you wink at me from a frickin hospital bed a minute ago? Really Lena? I _did_ actually scan your chart after that, because I figured you had to be on something.”

“You’re just trying to distract from the fact that I was right, wasn’t I?” And because she just couldn’t help herself, she threw Kara another wink.

Unfortunately, her alone time with Kara came to an end. Better to get these questions over with and get discharged as soon as she could. Hopefully they’d let her out of here. Considering Kara’s defiance earlier, she was feeling optimistic she wouldn’t be thrown back into a cell. _And even if they did, as long as it’s not with Mother again, I will still consider it an upgrade._ _See, optimist._

Once the doctor finished and left, the man spoke again. Lena was pretty sure he was called Jon, though the accent Agent Danvers used while speaking his name was unlike any she’s heard. “Agent Danvers, Supergirl. Go see if Detective Sawyer and Agent Schott have any updates urgent leads.”

Kara looked hesitant, but Lena gave her a nod of assurance. “It’s ok, Supergirl. I’m sure I will be able to answer all of Agent…” Lena didn’t know the man’s last name, but also didn’t want to address him informally, “all of the good agent’s questions.”

Kara gave her another look, before hesitantly deciding not to push it. “We’ll be back soon Director.”

“So it’s Director… My apologies, Director….”

“J'onzz. Director J’onzz,” She still couldn’t place the accent, but Lena couldn’t mull on that because it was taking all of her strength to maintain a stoic face not crack a grin. Well, at least Luthor training was good for something. She may have felt her eyebrow raise, but she couldn’t help that, it was pretty much a reflex at this point.

“Pleasure to meet you,” _Really, Jon Jones? This jacked dude has the same name as the elite mixed martial artist? Although, I suppose this Jon Jones is actually a little older, so it seems ufc fighter would have the same name as the Director._ She glanced back up at the man, and if she didn’t know better, she would say she could see a smirk on his face. His lips were perfectly neutral of course but there was a hint of a smile behind his eyes. She must have been imagining it. “I imagine you are here to ask me questions.

“Yes, you are correct Ms. Luthor, ready to begin?”


	16. Blowing minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> J'onn gets some answers and Maggie has some fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to the folks in the comments in the last few chapters that saw this coming a mile away

All in all, today was a good day. 

Yeah, okay, there were some ups and downs. They did kind of arrest Lena, which Maggie felt  _ kinda  _ bad about (although the kryptonite thing was still weird), because every time they’d hung out she seemed pretty chill. And Lena diiid, get pretty banged up, which Maggie felt  _ really _ bad about. Also, Lillian Luthor came dangerously close to escaping, which certainly didn’t make Maggie feel good. But, hey, they ended up on a higher note, catching Hank Henshaw. Plus Lena seemed to be okay according to the doctor, though Maggie wanted to confirm for herself. 

Those ups and downs, after tallying it up, pretty much broke even. Until Maggie was handed a great gift on a silver platter, courtesy of J’onn. 

After updating Alex and Kara on the minimal Cadmus updates, Kara was eager to return to Lena’s side.  _ Gee, I wonder why. _ It still amazed Maggie how no one else knew. Though, she supposed the Super Friends were all pretty oblivious when Alex patched up Maggie all of those times, even Alex herself for part of it. 

Alex went with Kara, and Maggie followed too wanting to confirm Lena was alright. The detective was torn, Alex was still suspicious, and of course Maggie wanted to be supportive of her girlfriend, but Lena was also her friend so she’d check up on her. Plus, she didn’t want to miss out on any action, and what a good decision that turned out to be. 

The three of them entered the room right as J’onn appeared to be finishing up. “Thank you Ms. Luthor, I think you told me all I need to know.”  _ Hmmm. Something seems off about him, maybe I’m not the only one that knows. I mean, he knew about me and Alex. _

Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later, when Lena looked up at the sight of Kara entered the room.  _ Yup, he knows. He’s giving them the same look me and Alex got after she introduced me to the group as her girlfriend. _

“Supergirl, Agent Danvers, Detective Sawyer, right on time. I have just concluded my questioning with Ms Luthor and determined her motives for having the Kryptonite, while not conventional, were not nefarious. She’s free to go as soon as the doctors clear her.”

Well that was great news. Lena was off. Though it was suspicious how quickly J’onn was able to buy her explanation, though she supposed mind reading would help make it easier to judge people’s intentions. 

“Really, you buy the training room thing?” Of course Alex would still question it, but she knew as well as Maggie that J’onn had the best insight into this sort of thing. 

“Uh, yes. I think Ms. Luthor’s explanation was quite acceptable and I do not require any further information about it.” That was weird did J’onn seem flustered? He was pretty quick to want to drop this Kryptonite thing. “Ms. Luthor can continue on with her… activities… as planned.” That definitely seemed off. Lena was just going to keep the Kryptonite? And continue building a room that could bring Kara to about human strength?

It didn’t add up. Even if Lena were innocent, which Maggie hoped was the case, the DEO isn’t one to let people play around with Kryptonite. And J’onn wasn’t someone who would brush off Kryptonite as NBD, but he seemed eager to completely move past this. It’s as if he would rather Lena Luthor continue to work on her training room project than spend a single further second talking about it. 

There couldn’t be a huge risk, Maggie supposed, since Lena didn’t even know the DEO director was a mind reading martian, but even then J’onn should have the upper hand in the interrogation, as Lena wouldn’t be working to shield her thoughts at all. And then it finally clicked - J’onn was uncomfortable  _ because _ the CEO was making no effort to shield her thoughts.  _ Holy shit! Lena Luthor is building her and Kara a sex room!  _ She saw J’onn clench at her thought, which, while an initial confirmation, also served to remind Maggie to clear her head if she was going to have some fun with this.  _ Damn, I really can detect though. _

J’onn cleared his throat, turning back to Lena, “Though we will need to chat on how we can be absolutely certain it’s secure, especially with Cadmus still out on the loose.” Maggie had to admit it was a nice pivot, bringing the topic back to Cadmus - that’d probably bring the Luthor woman out of whatever sex-crazed day dream running through her mind.

The whole situation was surreal. It was too irresistible, Maggie had to test a theory. “Lena,” Alex quirked an eyebrow at the first name familiarity, but Maggie shrugged it off. Yeah, it was a formal setting, but she’d drank whiskey and played board games with this woman, she wasn’t suddenly going to get all uptight, especially when the woman just got the shit kicked out of her. “I’m glad you’re ok. It’s a good thing that Supergirl could get there in time.”

For a quick moment Lena got a dreamy eyed look at the mention of Kara, before collecting herself. “Thank you Detective Sawyer, I appreciate you checking in.”

_ Now for the set up.  _ “Of course. Speaking of Lena’s safety, is there a plan to step up her security until Cadmus is completely dismantled?” 

As expected, Kara spoke up. “What a pressing concern, thank you for bringing it up Detective Sawyer. I’ll offer up myself as Ms. Luthor’s personal detail. Don’t worry, I will be on her constantly, day and night, I’ll just be all over her.” Lena quirked an eyebrow, her eyes darkening as Kara continued.  _ This is gonna be good. _ Lena was clearly captured by her thoughts. Kara, for her part, had quieted down, but judging by the crinkle, was busy planning Lena’s security detail. Alex seemed equal parts cautious and confused, and Maggie was just taking it all in. 

The silence was interrupted by the sound of a tablet cracking. Everyone in the room but Maggie, was surprised to see J’onn was the culprit, simply dropping the broken electronic on the ground and hurriedly retreating from the room. “Yes, yes, great plan. Well, I’m going to go get an update about a thing from an agent.”  _ Wow, that was too easy.  _

Confirming the Kara/Lena thing, messing with her girlfriend’s space dad, and seeing her soon to be best lesbro Lena getting cleared of charges. 

Yup, today was a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got the next few written, so might post another today if i'm feeling ambitious. 
> 
> Come hang @ vagiilante.tumblr.com


	17. Not so private thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena comes clean to Kara about the kryptonite and learns something new about J'onn in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was one of my favorites to write. #poorj'onn

Lena did not anticipate how quickly they let her leave after she her interrogation and/or interview - she still wasn’t entirely clear of the nature of the questioning. Of course, they had offered she could stay overnight for additional treatment and monitoring, but as soon as they told her she could be discharged, she lept at the option. 

The CEO was also pleasantly surprised when Kara was allowed to leave with her. Obviously, she expected her girlfriend would  _ want _ to stay by her side, but she didn’t expect the agency to give their superhero the day rest of the day off simply to help a friend home. Lena did have to admit it seemed a little obvious when Kara picked her up bridal style, but maybe people just assumed Kara was being careful because of the injuries. It's not that Lena didn't want people to know about them, she just didn't want to add to the stress in Kara's life. Clearly there was some lingering tension between Kara and her sister, and Lena didn't want to complicate that further.  It was clear the elder Danvers was still weary of her. 

The hero broke the silence once they were in the air. “Where to? And you better not say L Corp.” For once the thought didn't actually cross Lena's mind. “Your place or mine?”

“I don't care as long as you're with me.”  _ Making yourself an easy target, Luthor.  _ She never imagined she'd hear herself that needy, going against every instinc- no, not instinct, behavior- behavior that she had been taught. She was about to open her mouth to attempt to cover it up when Kara replied. 

“I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else.”  _ Ah, so that’s what people mean by “swoon.” _

A moment later they were on Lena's balcony, but Kara still didn't set her down. Instead she carried Lena through the apartment, heading to the bedroom.  _ Pity, under different circumstances, this would be quite an exciting moment.  _ Kara laid Lena down, stripping off her clothes, carefully avoiding the bandages. It was excruciating. Even though her girlfriend was touching her, it was clear she was holding back. It’s not like Lena wasn’t aware of the fact she was hurt, but there was no reason to treat her like paper.  _ I am arguably a masochist and certainly have an exceptionally high pain tolerance. What are the benefits of those traits if my girlfriend thinks it’s necessary treat me like a fucking american girl doll.  _ “Kara, really, I assure you I am fine. We should probably talk, I need to explai-”

“Shhh. No talking, right now, just sleep. We can talk in the morning.” She was about to protest, when she felt Kara settle in the bed next to her. Well, she supposed it  _ had _ been a trying day, to say the least, it couldn’t hurt to get some sleep. 

She awoke the next morning glad to feel Kara by her side. She had only been awake for a few minutes, when she felt the weight of Kara’s gaze on her.  _ Right, X-Ray vision. Probably checking out the injuries.  _ Her suspicions were confirmed when she launched into a rambling apology about how she should have done more to stop Alex.  _ Of course Kara would think this is somehow something she could have prevented.  _

“Kara, please do not apologize, if anyone should be apologizing, it's me, for getting myself in that position and making you worry.” Kara looked like she was about to protest, so she hurried to continue. “It was a rash decision for me to have kryptonite, even if my motivations were pure.”  _ Well maybe pure wasn't exactly the right word.  _

This really wasn't how she intended to broach the subject, but she also didn't want to lie to Kara by letting her believe the story she told the DEO. “But I also need to tell you something - the explanation I gave the DEO may have… omitted some details. Before I explain, I just want you to know I'm really happy with us, and the pace we've been taking things.” Her girlfriends forehead crinkled in confusion. “It's just, when an idea pops into my head, I can't control the inventor in me, and I just have to try it, but there’s no need for us to use it if you don’t want to, I-” 

“Rao, Lee, I thought I was the one who’s supposed to talk in super speed.”  _ Did I just ramble? That is undoubtedly Kara’s influence.  _

“Let me try again. It's true I was building a green room, akin to the one at the DEO, though I'm confident my own is superior, but let's just say combat wasn't what I'd had in mind.” 

Kara’s brow furrowed further. “So, what’s the green room you’re working on for then?”

“Well, let’s just say, that the room  wouldn’t be installed at L Corp once the panels are complete.” Lena left it vague for a moment, but when it was clear that wasn’t enough to carry her point home. “I synthesized kryptonite to operate in a room with yellow rays, mimicking the effect of Earth’s sun. Like the one at the DEO, it would limit your powers, but it would have the side effect of leaving you fully charged after. 

“I built it with the intention that if we were ever intimate and you didn't want to have to control your strength… well we have that option.”

“It's- it's a sex room?!” Kara’s eyes bugged out.  _ Shit, maybe I miscalculated.  _

“Well I wouldn't necessarily use that term, but yes?” Kara was pacing around the room now, running her hand through her hair, muttering to herself.

“Oh Rao. This is bad. How am I going to live this down” Lena was confused by the hero's reaction, but rushed over to comfort her girlfriend. 

“Kara, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to overstep,” She wanted to reach out and hold Kara, but didn’t want to cause her further discomfort, “It was foolish of me, I just saw that I could build it and didn’t stop to think if I should.”  _ Of course, I would fall subject to technological determinism, classic fallacy of those who excel in my field.  _ She refocused her attention, “Kara, please, breathe, talk to me.”

That seemed to bring Kara back to this realm. “Oh, Rao, Lena, I’m not mad about the room.” Now Lena was more perplexed than ever. “It’s just, J’onn. Well, that’s the thing, it’s not my thing to tell, it’s J’onn’s. But, then again, if I tell you, I’ll be doing him a favor, because if I don’t tell you then he’s never going to be able to be in the same room as us.” None of this was making a bit of sense. 

“What does your boss have to do with me building a Kryptonite re-enforced room? Well besides the obvious Kryptonite part. But it’s not like Jon could have any possible way of knowing what my true intentions were.” Though, with the look on Kara’s face as Lena spoke, she was beginning to doubt her assessment. Her girlfriend began fidgeting with her hands, avoiding Lena’s gaze all together. “Kara, is there something I should know?”

“Well, should you know? That’s not really my place to say. Is there relevant information about J’onn that would explain this a bit more? Well, that could be debatable”

“Kara, I can tell you’re evading. You don’t need to tell me anything you don’t want to, you know that right? I won’t push.” She hoped, especially after all they had been through in the last few weeks, Kara knew that was true. But her words seemed to bring the hero more conflict than comfort. 

“It’s not that, I trust you, Lena. It’s just a little awkward because it’s not my secret to share. But I have the feeling if I don’t tell you, things will start to be a lot awkward everytime you’re near J’onn.” The CEO was growing more and more confused by the second. Why would things be awkward between herself and Kara’s government agency boss? They had barely spoken, and out of all of Kara’s DEO contacts, Jon was neutral towards her and kept his interactions limited. Given how most people felt about Luthors, they were practically best friends. 

“I still don’t follow.”

“J’onn is from Mars. He’s a Green Martian.” Kara said it with such finality, that it was clear everything was supposed to make sense at the words. But Lena didn’t see any additional clarity, except for that this explained the strange pronunciation of the man’s name.  What did the man being an alien have to do with anything, surely Kara knew Lena wouldn’t care, and if the man had any ill will about Lena’s Luthor upbringing, he had masked it during their interactions. She racked her brain -  _ Did Lex have any research on Green Martians? _ Lena had gone through her brother’s files when she took over the company. She recalled the people of Mars were allegedly extinct and were a people that promoted collectiveness via deep telepathic communications.  _ Fuck. _

“Kara? Are you saying that Jon, I mean J’onn, can read minds?” Kara’s sheepish nod was all she needed for confirmation. “Oh dear. Yes, then I do see how this could be a smidge awkward.” She tried to remain stoic, keeping her expression neutral, partially out of habit and partially for Kara’s sake, but Lena could definitely see how this was less than ideal. “How close would you say you were with Director J’onnz?” She might as well find out the extent of the damage, as Lena had been thinking a lot of indecent thoughts in the man’s presence.  _ Ah, so this is why he was so quick to accept my explanation and end the conversation.  _

“J’onn is basically me and Alex’s mentor and work dad. He’s always super great, no pun intended, and he really cares about us. He lost both of his daughters and when Jerimiah - Alex’s dad, when he went missing he made J’onn promise to take care of us, and J’onn always has even when we didn’t know that’s what he was doing.” It was always adorable to see Kara go on, and Lena was glad to hear Kara had a great and supportive father figure, especially after losing so many family members in her life. Lena just wished that that father figure hadn’t seen vivid images of Lena marking Kara’s neck, moving lower, placing a trail of kisses down Kara’s body.  _ Focus, Luthor _ . Kara seemed to notice her distraction. “Lena, wait why are you asking? What exactly were you thinking in there?”

Lena’s blush told Kara all she needed to know. “Well in my defense, I didn’t know that they weren’t private! I mean, I have a very active mind Kara, some of the stuff I was thinking about  _ I’m _ not even ready to do yet!” Well, in hindsight, that certainly explained the tablet cracking. 

Kara buried her face in a pillow. “I don’t think I can ever look J’onn in the eye again. Is it too early for me to go into retirement?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently my mind is in the gutter and I'm dragging Lena down with me. You can yell at me at vagiilante.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> Come hang out - vagiilante.tumblr.com


End file.
